DoW Breast Cancer, Breakthrough Award Level 4

The Department of the Army Medical Command is soliciting applications for the Fiscal Year 2026 Breast Cancer Research Program Breakthrough Award Level 4, a cooperative agreement funding clinical trials, with a full application deadline of September 30, 2026 and a pre-application deadline of June 12, 2026.

Applicant categories are unrestricted, including extramural and intramural U.S. Department of War organizations, foreign and domestic entities, and for-profit and nonprofit organizations. Independent investigators regardless of citizenship may serve as Principal Investigator, Initiating PI, or Partnering PI. No cost share is required.

The CDMRP expects to allot approximately $21 million to fund roughly one award with a total cost cap of $21 million and a maximum four-year period of performance. Awards will be made no later than September 30, 2027, with FY26 funds expiring for use on September 30, 2032.

Applications must address at least one of nine specified BCRP overarching challenges related to breast cancer prevention, detection, treatment, and metastasis management, demonstrating potential for breakthrough impact and major advancement. Clinical trials are mandatory. The research team must include two or more breast cancer consumer advocates as integral members. Applicants may submit as a single PI or use the Partnering PI Option (Initiating and Partnering); failure to submit all associated applications by the deadline may result in administrative withdrawal.

Project readiness requirements include proof of regulatory compliance, available clinical reagents, appropriate subject populations, and validated patient recruitment projections. If FDA or equivalent regulatory agency involvement is required, an IND, IDE, or international equivalent must be submitted prior to the application deadline. Applications must include appropriate statistical plans with sex as a biological variable and detailed recruitment and retention strategies.

Applications undergo a two-tier review process: peer review for technical merit and programmatic review for strategic alignment. Selected applications require an invited oral presentation in March 2027. Award recipients must attend annual Milestone Meetings, submit quarterly and annual technical progress reports with enrollment data disaggregated by sex, race, and ethnicity, register and report results on ClinicalTrials.gov, and comply with all federal reporting requirements.

The funding opportunity is assigned to CFDA 12.420, Military Medical Research and Development.