HT942526MRPTSA_GG.pdf

This program announcement must be read in conjunction with the General Application Instructions, version CD26_01.

Program Announcement for the Defense Health Agency

Melanoma Research Program

Team Science Award

Funding Opportunity Number: HT942526MRPTSA

Pre-Application Due: July 13, 2026

Application Due: October 14, 2026 https://ebrap.org/eBRAP/public/gai.htm?version=CD26_01

FY26 Melanoma Team Science Award 2

Content

Before You Begin 3

Basic Information Summarizes the funding opportunity, funding details, submission deadlines and review dates

Eligibility Details eligibility factors for the applicant organization and Principal Investigator

Program Description Describes the program mission and intent of the Team Science Award; provides key award information and considerations; and outlines funding details

Application Contents Presents the two-step application process and instructions for preparing a pre-application and full application

Submission Requirements Provides locations for application packages, instructions for submitting pre-applications and full applications, and describes application verification

Application Review Information Outlines the processes for application compliance review, pre-application and full application selection/notification, and risk assessment. Also, details the review criteria for pre-application screening and both tiers of the CDMRP application review process – Peer Review and Programmatic Review

Federal Award Notices Outlines what a successful applicant can expect if recommended for funding

Post-Award Requirements References policy requirements for funded research; outlines reporting requirements and restrictions related to Principal Investigator changes and institutional award transfers

Other Information Outlines criteria for administrative actions including application rejection, modification, withdrawal and withhold

Appendix 1 Includes a checklist for all full application components to facilitate application submission

Appendix 2 Acronym List

FY26 Melanoma Team Science Award 3

Before You Begin

• Active SAM.gov, eBRAP.org and Grants.gov registrations are required for application submission. User registration for each of these websites can take several weeks or longer.

Each applicant must ensure their registrations are active and up to date prior to application preparation.

• Read this funding opportunity announcement in the order it is written before beginning to prepare application materials. It is the responsibility of the applicant to determine whether the proposed research meets the intent of this funding opportunity and that all parties meet eligibility requirements.

• To support application preparation, additional resources are available including an application process FAQ, a Guide for Intragovernmental & Intramural Applicants and a CDMRP Video Series detailing the application process.

Who to Contact for Support

This document uses internal links; you can go back to where you were by pressing the Alt + left arrow keys (Windows) or command + left arrow keys (Macintosh) on your keyboard.

Click to be taken to additional guidance and instructions within the General Application Instructions (GAI).

eBRAP Help Desk

301-682-5507 help@eBRAP.org

Questions regarding funding opportunity submission requirements, as well as technical assistance related to pre-application or intramural application submission.

Grants.gov Support Center

800-518-4726 International: 1-606-545-5035 support@grants.gov

Questions regarding Grants.gov registration and Workspace.

https://sam.gov/ https://ebrap.org/eBRAP/public/index.htm https://grants.gov/register https://cdmrp.health.mil/#:~:text=Frequently%20Asked%20Questions%20%C2%BB https://cdmrp.health.mil/#:~:text=Guide%20for%20Intragovernmental%20%26%20Intramural%20Applicants https://ebrap.org/eBRAP/public/Program.htm#:~:text=Journey%20of%20an,Tier%20Review%20Process mailto:help@eBRAP.org mailto:support@grants.gov https://ebrap.org/eBRAP/public/gai.htm?version=CD26_01

Section Shortcuts Basic Information | Eligibility | Program Description | Application Contents and Format | Submission Requirements

Application Review Information | Federal Award Notices | Post-Award Requirements | Other Information

FY26 Melanoma Team Science Award 4

1. Basic Information About the Funding Opportunity

Summary: The fiscal year 2026 (FY26) Melanoma Research Program (MRP) Team Science Award supports a broad range of hypothesis-driven, multidisciplinary studies that have a short-term goal of advancing the state of the science in melanoma research and/or patient care. Team science is a synergistic effort that harnesses techniques, approaches and perspectives from multiple disciplines and/or therapeutic areas to address complex, multi-dimensional problems that will impact patient outcomes.

Distinctive Features:

• This funding mechanism requires multiple Principal Investigators (PIs). At least two and up to three PIs should partner to jointly design and execute a single research project; multi-institutional partnerships are encouraged. If recommended for funding, each PI will be named on separate awards to the recipient organization(s).

• Consumer Collaboration Option: Investigators are encouraged, but not required, to form collaborative relationships with the melanoma consumer community to maximize the impact and translatability of the research for the benefit of the intended community(ies).

• After submitting the required pre-application, investigators must receive an invitation to submit a full application.

○ Only the Initiating PI will submit a pre-application. All PIs must submit full applications.

The Partnering PI(s)’s application is an abbreviated package specific to their proposed research effort.

Funding Details: The Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs expects to allot roughly $18.9M to fund approximately nine Team Science Award applications with total cost caps of $2.1M per award. The maximum period of performance is 3 years. It is anticipated that awards made from this FY26 funding opportunity will be funded with FY26 funds, which will expire for use on September 30, 2032. Awards supported with FY26 funds will be made no later than September 30, 2027.

Submission and Review Dates and Times

• Pre-Application (Preproposal) Submission Deadline: 5:00 p.m. Eastern Time (ET), July 13, 2026

• Invitation to Submit an Application: August 19, 2026

• Application Submission Deadline: 11:59 p.m. ET, October 14, 2026

• End of Application Verification Period: 5:00 p.m. ET, October 20, 2026

• Peer Review: December 2026

• Programmatic Review: March 2027

Announcement Type: Initial

Funding Opportunity Number: HT942526MRPTSA

Assistance Listing Number: 12.420

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FY26 Melanoma Team Science Award 5

2. Eligibility Information

2.1. Eligible Applicants

2.1.1. Organization

Extramural and intramural U.S. Department of War (DOW) organizations are eligible to apply, including foreign and domestic organizations, for-profit and nonprofit organizations, and public or private entities.

2.1.2. Principal Investigator

The investigator named as the Initiating PI or a Partnering PI on the application must be an independent investigator at or above the level of Assistant Professor, or equivalent. The investigators do not have to be from academic organizations.

An investigator in a mentored position (e.g., postdoctoral fellow, clinical fellow) is not considered independent and is not eligible to be named as Initiating or Partnering PI.

An investigator may be named on only one FY26 MRP full application as a PI.

Independent investigators affiliated with an eligible organization are eligible to be named PI on the application, regardless of ethnicity, nationality or citizenship status.

2.2. Cost Sharing

Cost sharing is not an eligibility requirement.

2.3. Other

Awards are made to eligible organizations, not to individuals. Refer to the GAI for additional recipient qualification requirements.

https://ebrap.org/eBRAP/public/gai.htm?version=CD26_01#_Content_Form_Full_App_Submission:~:text=pre%2Dapplication%20submission.-,Extramural%20Organization%3A,-A%20foreign%20or https://ebrap.org/eBRAP/public/gai.htm?version=CD26_01#_Definition_List:~:text=Intramural%20DOW%20Organization%3A%20A%20subset%20of%20intragovernmental%20organizations%3B%20refers%20specifically%20to%20DOW%20organizations%2C%20including%20DOW%20laboratories%2C%20DOW%20military%20treatment%20facilities%2C%20and/or%20DOW%20activities%20embedded%20within%20a%20civilian%20medical%20center.

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3. Program Description

The Defense Health Agency Contracting Activity (DHACA) is soliciting applications to this funding opportunity using delegated authority provided by United States Code, Title 10, Section 4001 (10 USC 4001). The Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) is the program office managing this FY26 funding opportunity as part of the Melanoma Research Program (MRP). The CDMRP is located within the Defense Health Agency Research and Development (DHA R&D), which is a part of the Department of Defense, DOD, herein referred to using the secondary title Department of War, DOW. Congress initiated the MRP in 2019 to provide support for research of high potential impact and exceptional scientific merit.

Appropriations for the MRP from FY19 through FY25 totaled $220 million (M). The FY26 appropriation is $40M.

The vision of the MRP is to prevent melanoma initiation and progression, and reduce hardship.

The mission is to support development of earlier interventions to enhance mission readiness, diminish melanoma burden, and improve quality of life for Service Members, Veterans, their Families and the American public.

Studies involving non-melanoma skin cancers are not allowed under the FY26 MRP.

The MRP identified three strategic priorities to ensure that funded research addresses unmet needs and/or underfunded areas of melanoma research and patient care. These three priorities are:

Prevention and Interception: Individuals diagnosed with melanoma have significantly improved prognoses when the disease is diagnosed and treated before it metastasizes.

Although primary prevention (use of sunscreen, sun avoidance, etc.) is critical, the MRP seeks to fund research that will lead to improved detection and monitoring capabilities (particularly for individuals at highest risk) as well as inhibition of melanoma initiation, early dissemination, emergence from tumor dormancy and metastases (i.e., interception).

With the exception of studies investigating rare melanomas, the FY26 MRP is not requesting research into established macrometastatic disease or developing treatments for macrometastatic disease.

Rare Melanomas: Rare melanoma subtypes can have distinct characteristics compared to cutaneous melanoma, which makes up the majority of melanoma diagnoses. Rare melanoma subtypes are typically less well-studied, and this has led to a variety of prevention, diagnosis and treatment challenges. The MRP seeks to fund research across the entire cancer research spectrum addressing unmet needs and knowledge gaps associated with rare melanomas.

Although the FY26 MRP accepts applications addressing topics relevant to uveal melanoma, the MRP is particularly interested in receiving applications that address other uncommon presentations of melanoma, including but not limited to:

• Genetic (molecular subtypes).

• Histologic (desmoplastic and acral lentiginous).

• Tissue of origin (mucosal, acral).

• Clinical presentation (pediatric, leptomeningeal disease).

Survivorship: The widely accepted definition of cancer, and therefore melanoma, survivorship spans the time from an individual receiving their initial diagnosis through the balance of their life. Under this definition, an individual is considered a melanoma survivor beginning at the time they receive their initial diagnosis. For the purposes of the MRP, the

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FY26 Melanoma Team Science Award 7 needs and impact of a melanoma diagnosis on family members, friends and care partners of melanoma survivors are also included within the purview of “melanoma survivorship.” With the increasing incidence of melanoma and the increased availability of effective treatment options for patients with melanoma, the number of melanoma survivors is also increasing. Melanoma survivorship research covers a broad range of research areas that have the goal of improving the health and well-being of melanoma survivors and their families/care partners. The MRP seeks to fund innovative and impactful research that advances studies in preservation of function (physical ability), quality of life improvement, symptom management, treatment outcomes and support for psychological and social issues related to melanoma diagnosis, treatment and life post-treatment.

3.1. Award History

The MRP Team Science Award mechanism was first offered in FY19. Since then, 210 TSA applications were received (representing 525 potential awards), and 41 were recommended for funding (representing 99 awards).

3.2. Intent of the Team Science Award

The intent of the FY26 MRP Team Science Award (TSA) is to support a broad range of hypothesis-driven, multidisciplinary studies that are responsive to at least one of the FY26 MRP Focus Areas and have the short-term goal of advancing the state of the science in melanoma research and/or patient care. Team science is a synergistic effort that harnesses techniques, approaches, and perspectives from multiple disciplines and/or therapeutic areas to address complex, multi-dimensional problems that will impact patient outcomes. The TSA is intended to bring together investigators from divergent disciplines to achieve innovations and advancements in melanoma research and/or patient care that could not be achieved by any one investigator working independently. While basic research is allowed, all applications are expected to articulate the short- and long-term benefits of the expected research outcomes for the melanoma patient community.

The TSA requires at least two and up to three PIs to partner and jointly design a single research project; multi-institutional partnerships are encouraged. One PI will be identified as the Initiating PI and will be responsible for the majority of the administrative tasks associated with application submission. The other PI(s) will be identified as a Partnering PI(s). Each PI should contribute significantly to the development and execution of the proposed research project. If recommended for funding, each PI will be named on separate awards to the recipient organization(s). Each award will be subject to separate reporting, regulatory and administrative requirements. Instructions regarding the unique full application components for the Initiating and Partnering PIs are located in Section 4.3. For individual submission requirements for the Initiating and Partnering PI(s), refer to Section 5.3. Submission Instructions.

At least one member of the partnership must have experience in either melanoma research or patient care. Inclusion of investigators from outside the melanoma field is encouraged. Each PI is expected to contribute both intellectual investment and research effort to the development and execution of the proposed research project. A proposed project in which a Partnering PI merely supplies reagents, specimens or access to patients will not meet the intent of this award mechanism.

Types of research that meet the intent of the TSA include, but are not limited to:

• Translational research that leverages clinical samples from established biobanks, established biorepositories, and/or ongoing or completed clinical trials. Translational

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FY26 Melanoma Team Science Award 8 research applications should include evidence for the reciprocal transfer of information between basic and clinical science or vice-versa in developing and implementing the research plan. Such integration between the laboratory and clinic should lead to greater knowledge, discovery and/or development of earlier interventions.

• Data science research where quantitative and analytical approaches, processes and/or systems are developed and/or used to obtain knowledge and insight from large and/or complex sets of melanoma data. Studies utilizing data derived from large patient studies that include long-term health records or repositories with well-annotated and high-quality biospecimens are encouraged. Proposed research can include studies related to computational biology, bioinformatics, artificial intelligence and machine learning, medical imaging, digital pathology, etc. Applications may combine diverse data types for integrative analysis. Use/analysis of already-existing datasets is strongly encouraged.

• Research that uses bioengineering approaches to develop tools that assist in the detection, diagnosis, prognosis and/or treatment of melanoma. Techniques from fields such as quantitative science, mathematics, computer science or engineering may be merged with biomedical sciences to address a relevant question or area of need. Any applications proposing such research should articulate how the project outcomes will offer real-world practicality or advance current tools, either in the short or long term.

• Other hypothesis-driven basic to translational research designed to investigate melanoma prevention and/or interception, rare melanomas or melanoma survivorship. The proposed research project may utilize preclinical models, human data and/or anatomical substances, and/or human subjects.

3.2.1. Focus Areas for the TSA

All applications to the FY26 MRP TSA must address at least one of the following FY26 MRP Focus Areas that support the MRP strategic priorities:

Prevention and Interception:

• Identify, understand and mitigate risk factor determinants and develop biomarkers for melanoma.

• Develop new technology for the detection, diagnosis, and monitoring of melanoma that can distinguish lesions and/or individuals at higher risk for progression from lesions and/or individuals requiring only surveillance.

• Define the mechanisms of:

○ Melanoma initiation

○ Response and/or resistance to adjuvant and/or neoadjuvant therapy, including cellular-based therapies

○ Progression

○ Recurrence

○ Emergence from tumor dormancy

○ Metastatic spread

Mechanism-focused studies may include the role of the tumor microenvironment and/or microbiome in these processes.

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FY26 Melanoma Team Science Award 9

• Develop new preclinical models that faithfully represent disease evolution observed in humans, from melanomagenesis through progression. New models may represent cutaneous melanoma or any rare melanoma subtype.

Rare Melanomas:

• Address unmet needs across the entire cancer research spectrum for rare melanomas, as defined above, which includes studies of biology, etiology, prevention, early diagnosis and detection, prognosis, treatment or survivorship.

Survivorship:

• Address the psychological and social impacts of a melanoma diagnosis, symptom trajectories, adverse effects of treatment and other outcomes affecting melanoma survivors and their family members/care partners.

• Address the physical impacts of symptom trajectories; acute and late-occurring adverse effects of treatment, including lymphedema, toxicities, reproductive and sexual health issues, and side effects that may not manifest until after treatment ends; role of diet, exercise and other lifestyle factors on treatment outcomes and/or quality of life; etc.

3.2.2. Key Elements for the TSA

Multidisciplinary Collaboration: The success of the project should depend on the unique skills and perspectives of each partner. The application must clearly define the synergistic components that will facilitate and accelerate progress in melanoma in a way that could not be accomplished through independent efforts. The plans for interactions among all PIs and organizations involved must be clearly articulated. Collectively, the members of the research team should represent the appropriate diversity of expertise necessary for addressing the proposed research question. Participating organizations must be willing to resolve potential intellectual and material property issues and remove organizational barriers to achieving high levels of cooperation. The following components of the proposed multidisciplinary collaboration are encouraged but not required:

• It is strongly encouraged that the research team has a least one investigator key personnel, or consultant who can provide input on the ultimate utility/applicability (short- or long-term) of the anticipated outcome(s) to the melanoma field and/or patient care.

• The inclusion of an early-career investigator is encouraged. An early-career investigator is defined as an independent, early-career researcher or physician-scientist within seven years of receiving their first faculty appointment by the time of the full application deadline.

Investigators in mentored positions, (e.g., postdoctoral fellows) are not eligible to be named as a PI on a TSA application.

• The inclusion of a military and/or U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) investigator is encouraged. A military or VA investigator is defined as an investigator who is active-duty, active reserve, active duty detailed to agencies outside of the DOW, civilian DOW investigators or an investigator at a VA research facility. If included as PI on the research team, the military/VA investigator should have a substantial role in the research and should not be included only for access to active-duty military and/or VA populations.

Impact: The application must articulate the impact the proposed work, including basic research, will have on melanoma research and/or patient care. Outcomes from this award are expected to expedite the advancement of promising ideas toward clinical applications and/or improve the current state of the science/technology in the melanoma field. The proposed research must relate to at least one of the FY26 MRP Focus Areas.

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FY26 Melanoma Team Science Award 10

Preliminary Data Required: Applications must include preliminary data to support feasibility of the study. However, these data do not necessarily need to be derived from melanoma studies. Any unpublished, preliminary data presented should originate from the laboratory of at least one of the PIs or other member(s) of the research team.

3.2.3. Other Important Considerations for the TSA

Melanoma Resources: When appropriate and feasible, PIs are encouraged to utilize existing, well-characterized data and specimens. Examples of such resources are listed below. PIs are encouraged to explore the utility of these and/or other resources to ensure the use of the most appropriate data and/or models to conduct impactful melanoma research. The list is not all-inclusive, and the information provided below, including external links and references, is not to be construed as endorsement by the DOW, CDMRP or MRP.

• National Cancer Institute (NCI) Patient-Derived Models Repository (PDMR). The PDMR is a national repository of patient-derived models (PDMs) comprised of patient-derived xenografts (PDXs), in vitro patient-derived tumor cell cultures (PDCs), and cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), as well as patient-derived organoids. In addition to model generation, NextGen sequencing data are available for all models, as well as DNA, RNA and flash-frozen fragments for protein extraction from early-passage PDXs. The PDMR’s catalog currently contains numerous melanoma PDXs, PDCs, organoids and CAF cultures, including some for rare melanoma subtypes.

• Human Cancer Models Initiative (HCMI). The goal of the HCMI is to create up to 1,000 patient-derived next-generation cancer models such as organoids, conditionally reprogrammed cells, neurospheres, or optimal growth condition models as a community resource. The HCMI aims to provide the models’ case-associated data which include quality-checked clinical, biospecimen, and molecular characterization data from the models, the tissues from which they were derived, and normal tissues, when available. Available harmonized data are accessible through NCI's Genomic Data Commons.

• NCI-Funded Skin Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPOREs). There are currently three skin SPOREs whose programs focus predominantly on melanoma.

Historically, each SPORE site includes a biospecimen core.

• VA Science and Health Initiative to Combat Infectious and Emerging Life-Threatening Diseases (VA SHIELD). The VA SHIELD is a comprehensive, secure biorepository of specimens and associated data that provides researchers and clinicians with high-quality biosamples and comprehensive associated medical and sample data to accelerate the discovery-to-therapy pipeline for the benefit of Veterans. NOTE: These specimens and data are available ONLY to authorized VA investigators.

• Million Veteran Program. The Million Veteran Program (MVP) is the nation’s largest genomic biorepository of Veteran data and is one of the most diverse cohorts of any genetic research program in the world. NOTE: Access to MVP data is currently limited to ONLY VA-affiliated researchers.

• American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Project Genomics Evidence Neoplasia Information Exchange (GENIE®). Project GENIE is a publicly accessible cancer registry of real-world clinico-genomic data assembled through data sharing between 19 international cancer centers. As of the January 2024 release there were over 198,000 sequenced samples from more than 172,000 patients, with melanoma samples, including uveal melanoma, being well-represented.

https://pdmr.cancer.gov/default.htm https://www.cancer.gov/ccg/research/functional-genomics/hcmi https://trp.cancer.gov/spores/skin.htm https://www.research.va.gov/programs/shield/about.cfm https://www.research.va.gov/programs/shield/about.cfm https://www.research.va.gov/mvp/research.cfm https://www.aacr.org/professionals/research/aacr-project-genie/ https://www.aacr.org/professionals/research/aacr-project-genie/

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• Patient-Derived Cancer Models. CancerModels.Org provides harmonized and integrated model attributes to support consistent searching for PDX, organoid, and cell line models and to facilitate researchers’ search for models and associated data across multiple commercial and academic resources.

• The Community United for Research and Education of Ocular Melanoma (CURE OM) Virtual Information System to Improve Outcomes and Networks (VISION) Platform. The CURE OM VISION Platform is a patient-powered OM research project funded and sponsored by the Melanoma Research Foundation’s CURE OM initiative. The registry launched in the United States in May 2021 and was made available to participants worldwide soon thereafter. The CURE OM initiative’s patient community and collaborators are now actively participating, sharing data, and joining researchers in the work toward more effective treatments and, one day, a cure.

• INSIGHT: A Global Ocular Melanoma Patient Registry. The ocular melanoma INSIGHT patient registry is a collaborative effort between A Cure In Sight, the University of California San Francisco Beckman Vision Center, and the National Organization for Rare Disorders.

This participant-driven registry launched in 2019 to enhance the understanding of ocular melanoma, collect data for medical research, and facilitate the development of new diagnostic and treatment options.

• The RARE® Registry. The RARE Registry is an initiative led by the Melanoma Research Alliance primarily for patients with acral and mucosal melanoma. It provides a free, interactive, web, and mobile-friendly tool to share information, experiences, and disease history; advance research and awareness; and get potential matches to clinical trials.

Melanoma Consumer Collaboration Option: For the purposes of the TSA, a “melanoma consumer” is a melanoma survivor (active or post-treatment), family member and/or care partner who can provide lived experience expertise to the research project. Applicants to the TSA are encouraged, but not required, to collaborate with the melanoma consumer community to maximize the impact and translatability of the research outcomes for the benefit of the intended community(ies).

Collaborative research approaches create partnerships between scientific researchers and melanoma consumers to create knowledge useable by both sets of stakeholders. Recognizing the strengths of each partner, scientific researchers and melanoma consumers collaborate and contribute equitably on all aspects of the project, which may include needs assessment, planning, research design, implementation, evaluation and results dissemination. Collaborative research approaches feature shared responsibility and ownership for the research project to ensure non-tokenistic involvement of the melanoma consumer community members within the research team. Research results are jointly interpreted, disseminated and fed back to affected communities and in some instances, translated into interventions or policy.

Collaborative relationships with the melanoma consumer community may be established through integrating community members into research teams as co-researchers, advisors, and/or consultants; melanoma consumer collaborators should not be named as Initiating or Partnering PIs. Examples for implementing collaborative research approaches are listed below, but each research team may pursue other options as appropriate for the proposed research.

The research team may:

• Include at least one melanoma consumer who will provide advice and consultation throughout the planning, implementation and results dissemination of the research project.

The consumer(s) should be able to speak to the needs of the melanoma consumer community, not just speak to their own personal experiences.

https://www.cancermodels.org/ https://melanoma.org/cure-om-patient-registry/ https://melanoma.org/cure-om-patient-registry/ https://acureinsight.org/om-registry/?v=7516fd43adaa https://www.raremelanoma.org/

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FY26 Melanoma Team Science Award 12

• Establish partnerships with at least one community-supporting organization that provides advice and consultation throughout the planning, implementation and results dissemination of the research project. Community-supporting organizations may include advocacy groups or other formal organizational stakeholders that can speak to the needs of the melanoma consumer community.

• Assemble a melanoma consumer community advisory board. The advisory board may include melanoma consumers, a coalition of community-supporting organizations or any combination thereof that provides advice and consultation throughout the planning, implementation and results dissemination of the research project.

Additional information on collaborative research approaches can be found in:

• Cancer Research UK. Patient involvement toolkit for researchers.

• Patricial A. Spears, “Patient Engagement in Cancer Research From the Patient’s Perspective,” Future Oncology 17, no. 28 (2021):3717–28. doi: 10.2217/fon-2020-1198.

Epub 2021 Jul 2. PMID: 34213358.

• Ann Tivey et al., “Patient Engagement in Melanoma Research: From Bench to Bedside,” Future Oncology 17, no. 28 (2021): 3705–16. doi: 10.2217/fon-2020-1165. Epub 2021 Jul 2.

PMID: 34213356.

• Jeannine M. Salamone, et al., “Promoting Scientist-Advocate Collaborations in Cancer Research: Why and How,” Cancer Research 78, no. 20 (2018): 5723–28. doi:

10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-18-1600.

• Food and Drug Administration. Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) Patient- Focused Drug Development.

Relevance to Military Health: Advancing knowledge in melanoma research, patient care and/or treatment options in the Military Health System is critical. Therefore, the MRP seeks to support research that is relevant to the health care needs of Service Members, Veterans and/or their Families. The MRP encourages investigators to consider the following examples of how a project may demonstrate relevance to military health:

• Use of military or Veteran populations, biospecimens, data, databases, or programs in the proposed research.

• Applications from investigators within the DOW and applications involving multidisciplinary collaborations among academia, industry, DOW, VA and other federal government agencies are highly encouraged. These relationships can leverage knowledge, infrastructure and access to unique clinical populations that the collaborators bring to the research effort, ultimately advancing research that is of significance to Service Members, Veterans, and/or their Families.

• Explanation of how the project addresses an aspect of melanoma that has relevance or is unique to Service Members, Veterans and/or their Families.

If the proposed research involves access to active-duty military and/or VA patient populations and/or DOW or VA resources or databases, the application must describe the access at the time of submission, provide appropriate letters of support, and include a plan for maintaining access as needed throughout the proposed research. Refer to the Full Application Submission Components, for detailed information. Refer to the GAI, Appendix 4, for additional information.

A list of websites that may be useful in identifying additional information about ongoing DOW and VA areas of research interest or potential opportunities for collaboration can be found in Appendix 10 of the GAI.

https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/funding-for-researchers/patient-involvement-toolkit-for-researchers https://doi.org/10.2217/fon-2020-1198 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34213358/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34213356/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34213356/ https://aacrjournals.org/cancerres/article/78/20/5723/631778/Promoting-Scientist-Advocate-Collaborations-in https://www.fda.gov/drugs/development-approval-process-drugs/cder-patient-focused-drug-development https://www.fda.gov/drugs/development-approval-process-drugs/cder-patient-focused-drug-development https://ebrap.org/eBRAP/public/gai.htm?version=CD26_01#DOW_AND_VA_WEBSITES:~:text=APPENDIX%204.%0AUSE%20OF%20DOW%20OR%20U.S.%20DEPARTMENT%20OF%20VETERANS%20AFFAIRS%20RESOURCES https://ebrap.org/eBRAP/public/gai.htm?version=CD26_01#DOW_AND_VA_WEBSITES:~:text=APPENDIX%2010.%0ADOW%20AND%20VA%20WEBSITES

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FY26 Melanoma Team Science Award 13

Preclinical Research: All projects should adhere to a core set of standards for rigorous study design and reporting to maximize the reproducibility and translational potential of clinical and preclinical research, such as those described in the STROBE, CONSORT, SPIRIT and ARRIVE guidelines 2.0.

For Research Involving Animals: In accordance with the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026, Section 732, CDMRP does not support the conduct of painful research (U.S. Department of Agriculture pain category D or E) involving domestic cats or dogs, except for studies relating to military or service animals.

The MRP acknowledges that domestic dogs can spontaneously develop mucosal melanoma.

FY26 applications proposing mucosal melanoma studies involving pets that are voluntarily enrolled in studies at the owner’s discretion may be considered (e.g., a pet owner enrolling their domestic dog in a clinical trial administered in a veterinary hospital setting). Such studies, if recommended for funding, must obtain a waiver of National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026, Section 732 before initiating. Receipt of such a waiver is not guaranteed.

For Research Involving Human Data, Human Anatomical Substances, Human Subjects or Human Cadavers:

Clinical trials are not allowed within this funding opportunity.

For the purposes of this funding opportunity, research that meets the definition of a clinical trial is distinct from clinical research.

For more information, a Human Subject Research Resource is available on the CDMRP website.

Metastatic Cancer Task Force: A congressionally mandated Metastatic Cancer Task Force was formed with the purpose of identifying ways to help accelerate clinical and translational research aimed at extending the lives of advanced state and recurrent patients. As a member of the Metastatic Cancer Task Force, CDMRP encourages applicants to review the recommendations and submit research ideas to address these recommendations provided they are within the limitations of this funding opportunity and fit within the FY26 MRP strategic priorities

3.3. Funding Instrument

The funding instrument for awards made under the program announcement will be grants

(31 USC 6304).

3.4. Funding Details

Period of Performance: The maximum period of performance is 3 years.

Cost Cap: The combined total costs budgeted for the entire period of performance in the applications of the Initiating PI and each Partnering PI should not exceed $2,100,000. If indirect cost rates have been negotiated, indirect costs are to be budgeted in accordance with the organization’s negotiated rate. Collaborating organizations should budget associated indirect costs in accordance with each organization’s negotiated rate.

All direct and indirect costs of any subaward or contract must be included in the direct costs of the primary award.

The applicant may request the entire maximum funding amount for a project that may have a period of performance less than the maximum 3 years.

https://www.strobe-statement.org/ https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-025-03635-5#:~:text=SPIRIT%20and%20CONSORT%20are%20evidence,relevant%20empirical%20evidence%20where%20possible https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-025-03668-w?fromPaywallRec=false https://arriveguidelines.org/arrive-guidelines https://arriveguidelines.org/arrive-guidelines https://www.aphis.usda.gov/sites/default/files/ac-tech-note-categorizing-animal-pain-or-distress.pdf https://ebrap.org/eBRAP/public/gai.htm?version=CD26_01#_Definition_List:~:text=or%20hardware%20procurement.-,Clinical%20Trial%3A,-As%20defined%20in https://ebrap.org/eBRAP/public/gai.htm?version=CD26_01#_Definition_List:~:text=considered%20clinical%20trials.-,Clinical%20Research%3A,-For%20the%20purposes https://cdmrp.health.mil/pubs/pdf/Human%20Subjects%20Resource%20Document_20250328.pdf https://health.mil/Reference-Center/Congressional-Testimonies/2018/05/03/Metastatic-Cancer-Research https://ebrap.org/eBRAP/public/gai.htm?version=CD26_01#_Recipient_Qualification_Restriction_Info:~:text=Period%20of%20Performance%3A%20The%20time%20interval%20between%20the%20start%20of%20a%20federal%20award%20and%20the%20planned%20end%20date.

https://ebrap.org/eBRAP/public/gai.htm?version=CD26_01#_Recipient_Qualification_Restriction_Info:~:text=in%20project%20activities.-,Cost%20Cap%3A,-The%20maximum%20cost https://ebrap.org/eBRAP/public/gai.htm?version=CD26_01#:~:text=and%20system%20accounts.-,Total%20Cost%3A,-The%20total%20costs

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The appropriateness of the budget for the proposed research will be assessed during peer review.

A separate award will be made to each PI’s organization.

The PIs are expected to be partners in the research, and direct cost funding should be divided accordingly unless otherwise warranted and clearly justified.

Direct Cost Restrictions: For this award mechanism, direct costs:

May be requested for (not all-inclusive):

• Travel in support of multi-institutional collaborations.

• Costs for no more than three investigators to travel to one scientific/technical meeting per year. The intent of travel to scientific/technical meetings should be to present project information or disseminate project results from the MRP TSA.

• Costs associated with Melanoma Consumer Collaboration Option (e.g., consultant costs, equitable participation training, capacity-building activities).

Must not be requested for:

• Clinical trial costs.

Basic Information | Eligibility | Program Description | Application Contents and Format | Submission Requirements

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4. Application Contents and Format

4.1. Application Overview

Application submission is a two-step process requiring both a pre-application submitted via the Electronic Biomedical Research Application Portal (eBRAP) and a full application submitted through eBRAP or Grants.gov. Depending on the submission portal, certain aspects of the application will differ.

Intramural DOW organizations submitting a full application should follow instructions for submission through eBRAP.

Extramural organizations submitting a full application must follow instructions for submission through Grants.gov.

4.2. Pre-Application Components

Pre-application submissions must include the following components.

The Initiating PI must submit the following pre-application components.

Upload documents as individual PDF files unless otherwise noted. Files must comply with the formatting guidelines listed in the GAI.

• Preproposal Narrative: Provide responses in the appropriate text fields in eBRAP for the following questions. Inclusion of URLs that provide additional information to expand responses and that could confer an unfair competitive advantage is prohibited and may result in administrative withdrawal of the pre-application.

○ What is the hypothesis to be tested and/or objective to be obtained? Briefly describe the specific aims of the proposed research. Explain how the scope of the proposed research is appropriate for the intent of a TSA and feasible to complete within the allowed budget and period of performance limits. (2000-character limit.)

○ How will the proposed work uniquely address a critical problem in at least one of the FY26 MRP Focus Areas? The focus area(s) described in this response should match the primary (and secondary, if applicable) focus area(s) selected within the Application Tab in eBRAP during pre-application submission. (500-character limit.)

○ Briefly describe the research team. How will the proposed collaboration accelerate progress in melanoma in a way that could not be accomplished through independent efforts? (1,500-character limit.)

○ For Applications to the Team Science Award – Consumer Collaboration Option only: Describe plans to incorporate melanoma consumer collaboration into the planning, execution, and dissemination of the proposed research. Identify the individual(s) and/or organization(s) of the proposed consumer collaborator(s). (500-character limit.)

○ How will the anticipated short- and long-term outcomes of the proposed research, if the effort is successful, answer a critical question or address an unmet need in melanoma to the benefit of Service Members, Veterans, their Families and the American public? (500-character limit.)

https://ebrap.org/eBRAP/public/index.htm https://ebrap.org/eBRAP/public/gai.htm?version=CD26_01#Appendix2:~:text=APPENDIX%202.%0AFORMATTING%20GUIDELINES https://ebrap.org/eBRAP/public/gai.htm?version=CD26_01#_Full_App_Submission_Grants:~:text=IV.%C2%A0%C2%A0%C2%A0%C2%A0%C2%A0%C2%A0%C2%A0%20FULL%20APPLICATION%20SUBMISSION%20THROUGH%20GRANTS.GOV https://ebrap.org/eBRAP/public/gai.htm?version=CD26_01#_Full_App_Submission_eBRAP:~:text=V.%C2%A0%C2%A0%C2%A0%C2%A0%C2%A0%C2%A0%C2%A0%C2%A0%C2%A0%20FULL%20APPLICATION%20SUBMISSION%20THROUGH%20eBRAP

Basic Information | Eligibility | Program Description | Application Contents and Format | Submission Requirements

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• Pre-Application Supporting Documentation: The items to be included as supporting documentation for the pre-application must be uploaded as individual files and are limited to the following:

○ References Cited (one-page limit): List the references cited (including URLs if available) in the Preproposal Narrative using a standard reference format that includes the full citation (i.e., author[s], year published, reference title, and reference source, including volume, chapter, page numbers, and publisher, as appropriate).

○ List of Abbreviations, Acronyms and Symbols: Provide a list of abbreviations, acronyms and symbols used in the Preproposal Narrative responses.

4.3. Full Application Components

Applicants must receive an invitation to submit a full application. Uninvited full application submissions will be rejected.

The CDMRP requires separate full application package submissions for the Initiating PI and each Partnering PI, even if the PIs are located within the same organization. The application submission process for each Partnering PI uses an abbreviated full application package.

4.3.1. Full Application Components for the Initiating PI

Each application submission must include the completed full application package for this program announcement. See Appendix 1 for a checklist of the full application components.

(a) SF424 Research & Related Application for Federal Assistance Form (Grants.gov submissions only):

IMPORTANT: When completing the SF424 R&R, enter the eBRAP log number assigned during pre-application submission into Block 4a – Federal Identifier.

(b) Attachments:

Each attachment of the full application components must be uploaded as an individual file in the format specified and in accordance with the formatting guidelines in the GAI.

○ Attachment 1: Project Narrative (12-page limit): Upload as “ProjectNarrative.pdf”.

Describe the proposed project in detail using the outline below.

– Background: Present the scientific rationale to support the proposed multidisciplinary research project and its feasibility, as established through the demonstration of logical reasoning and a critical review and analysis of published literature; include relevant literature citations. Provide sufficient preliminary data to support the feasibility of work proposed. Any unpublished, preliminary data provided should originate from the laboratory of at least one of the PIs or a member of the research team. The inclusion of preliminary data is required. However, preliminary data does not have to be derived from melanoma studies.

– Hypothesis and Objectives: State the hypothesis to be tested or the objective to be reached.

– Specific Aims: State the specific aims of the study. If the proposed research is part of a larger study, present only aims that this award would fund.

https://ebrap.org/eBRAP/public/gai.htm?version=CD26_01#_Recipient_Qualification_Restriction_Info:~:text=APPENDIX%202.%0AFORMATTING%20GUIDELINES https://ebrap.org/eBRAP/public/gai.htm?version=CD26_01#_Recipient_Qualification_Restriction_Info:~:text=(a)%C2%A0%C2%A0%C2%A0%C2%A0%C2%A0%C2%A0%20SF424%20(R%26R)%20%E2%80%93%20Application%20for%20Federal%20Assistance%20Form https://ebrap.org/eBRAP/public/gai.htm?version=CD26_01#_Recipient_Qualification_Restriction_Info:~:text=%C2%B7-,Project%20Narrative%3A,-Attach%20as%20%E2%80%9CProjectNarrative

Basic Information | Eligibility | Program Description | Application Contents and Format | Submission Requirements

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– Research Strategy and Feasibility: Describe the experimental design, methodology, and analyses, including appropriate controls, in sufficient detail for evaluation of their appropriateness and feasibility. Describe how the studies are designed to achieve reproducible and rigorous results that support successful completion of the project aims. Address potential problem areas and pitfalls, and present alternative methods and/or approaches.

▪ Clearly describe the statistical plan and the rationale for the statistical methodology. If applicable, describe an appropriate power analysis, how it supports the sample size, and how it adequately represents an assessment of the population or subpopulation proposed.