DoD Breast Cancer, Breakthrough Award Levels 1 and 2 | W81XWH 22 BCRP BTA12

Opportunity Information: Apply for W81XWH 22 BCRP BTA12

The DoD Breast Cancer, Breakthrough Award Levels 1 and 2 (Funding Opportunity Number W81XWH-22-BCRP-BTA12) is a Department of Defense breast cancer research funding opportunity managed by the US Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity (USAMRAA). It is designed to back research projects that are positioned to produce true breakthroughs in breast cancer rather than incremental progress. The program is framed around the idea of impact: proposed work should have clear potential to accelerate progress toward ending breast cancer, either in the near term or over a longer horizon, but in all cases by aiming for a meaningful leap forward. A key expectation is that applicants explicitly identify which breast cancer patients, survivors, or at-risk populations would ultimately benefit from the research, making the intended clinical or public health relevance concrete rather than implied.

A defining feature of the Breakthrough Award mechanism is its tiered structure. The overall Breakthrough Award program has four funding levels, each meant to support different stages along the pathway to clinical application. This specific announcement covers only Levels 1 and 2; Levels 3 and 4 are offered under separate announcements (W81XWH-22-BCRP-BTA3 and W81XWH-22-BCRP-BTA4). Applicants are expected to choose the level that matches the scientific maturity and scope of their project, and the guidance is explicit that the choice should be based on the research scope described in the announcement, not simply on how much money the team wants to request. If reviewers determine the project does not match the intent of the selected level, it will not be recommended for funding even if it might have fit better under another level, so aligning the project stage and evidence base to the correct level is treated as a gating requirement.

Funding Level 1 is aimed at innovative, high-risk/high-reward ideas that are still at the earliest stages. This includes untested theories or new conceptual approaches that address an important breast cancer problem but are not yet supported by extensive evidence. To encourage genuinely novel directions and reduce barriers to proposing bold ideas, preliminary data are not required at Level 1. The expected outcome is proof of concept: the work should be structured to demonstrate that the core idea is plausible and worthy of further development, with a credible plan to generate decisive early evidence.

Funding Level 2 targets projects that are more mature and already supported by substantial preliminary data and/or published findings. The emphasis here is on research that strongly validates a path toward clinical translation in a well-defined breast cancer context. In other words, Level 2 is meant for approaches that have already moved beyond speculation and have convincing supporting evidence, with a research plan that advances the work toward real-world use, adoption, or further clinical development. The announcement also calls out a specific Level 2 category for population science and prevention studies. These projects must similarly be backed by substantial preliminary or published data and must clearly support clinical translation, but they may, with strong justification, request higher levels of funding and an additional year of performance. This allowance reflects the practical realities of studies involving human subjects and/or human biospecimens, which often require more time, infrastructure, regulatory coordination, and resources to execute rigorously.

Another central element is the Partnering PI Option, which is intended to promote meaningful, intellectually balanced collaborations rather than simple service relationships. Under this option, an application can include two Principal Investigators with defined roles: an Initiating PI who handles most submission and administrative responsibilities, and a Partnering PI who shares substantial responsibility for the scientific direction. The intent is that both PIs contribute significantly to the project design, the Project Narrative, the Statement of Work, and other core components, and that their contributions are distinct and essential. The application should make a strong case that combining their expertise as a partnership is necessary to address the research question effectively, and it should explain why the work should be done together instead of as separate parallel efforts. The program also signals what does not qualify as a true partnership in this context, including mentor-trainee pairings framed as partnering PIs, arrangements where one PI mainly supplies materials (like samples, animal models, or investigational agents) while the other conducts most experiments, and situations where a person is listed as a partnering PI on multiple submissions without clearly distinct research questions. If funded, each PI is named on an individual award within the recipient organization, reinforcing the expectation of shared leadership and accountability.

From an administrative and eligibility standpoint, the opportunity is listed as discretionary and is open to unrestricted eligible applicants (meaning it is broadly available to many organization types, subject to any additional eligibility notes in the full announcement). Awards may be made as grants or cooperative agreements under CFDA 12.420 within the Science and Technology and other Research and Development category. The listing notes an anticipated 19 awards. The posting date was March 16, 2022, with an original closing date of May 17, 2022. Finally, the announcement underscores staffing expectations: applicants should assemble a robust research team with appropriate breast cancer-relevant expertise and complementary backgrounds to deliver the proposed work successfully, consistent with the program focus on ambitious, high-impact outcomes.

• The Department of Defense, Dept. of the Army -- USAMRAA in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "DoD Breast Cancer, Breakthrough Award Levels 1 and 2" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 12.420.
• This funding opportunity was created on Mar 16, 2022.
• Applicants must submit their applications by May 17, 2022. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 19 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

Apply for W81XWH 22 BCRP BTA12

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