Chemical and Biological Defense Program

The Chemical and Biological Defense Program (PE 0601384BP) is a Department of Defense (DoD) research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) initiative focused on basic research to address emerging chemical and biological (CB) threats. The program's primary goals are to advance theoretical and experimental knowledge in life and physical sciences, supporting the DoD's Understand, Protect, and Mitigate portfolios. By investing in fundamental science, the program seeks to improve situational awareness of CB threats, enable rapid response capabilities, and foster transformative research that could shift paradigms in CB defense.

LF1: Life Sciences (Basic Research) is a major component of the Chemical and Biological Defense Program, with objectives centered on understanding how living systems respond to chemical and biological agents. This research supports the development of detection methods, diagnostics, protective measures, and medical treatments. Key areas of investigation include microbiology, biochemistry, pathogenic mechanisms, cell and molecular biology, immunology, nanoscale science, and information science. The program aims to elucidate host-agent interactions to drive innovation in countermeasure development and improve efficacy against a broad spectrum of current and future threat agents.

In FY 2025 and FY 2026, the Life Sciences project will focus on several specific research areas. These include advancing Organoid Technology to model cellular toxicity and metabolic profiles, which informs drug development and accelerates FDA approvals. The Pathogenesis research will validate small molecule inhibitors on viral gene expression and analyze how viruses affect host cells, with the goal of informing new therapeutic strategies.

Structural Biology efforts will involve testing the efficacy of small molecules and antimicrobial peptides, and training predictive models for drug design. Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be leveraged for early drug discovery, focusing on protein binding candidates and developing frameworks for identifying novel host response signatures.

Additional objectives in the Life Sciences line include developing and validating Biomarkers using machine learning to predict strain-specific binding targets and enhance biosensor sensitivity. Inflammation Mapping will correlate data on chemical exposures and analyze molecular processes to identify key indicators of inflammation, which can inform treatment strategies for diseases and chemical injuries. The increase in funding from FY 2025 to FY 2026 reflects expanded investment in AI for drug discovery, with an emphasis on data standardization and regulatory considerations.

PS1: Physical Sciences (Basic Research) is the second major line item, focusing on fundamental scientific phenomena in chemistry, physics, materials science, nanotechnology, and environmental science. The objective is to develop new materials and technologies that enhance detection, diagnostics, protection, and decontamination capabilities. This research supports the DoD's broader CB defense goals by enabling the development of advanced protective equipment and environmentally friendly decontamination agents.

Specific FY 2025 and FY 2026 plans for Physical Sciences include work on Multifunctional Materials, such as synthesizing membranes with multiple catalytic sites and developing composites with selective binding capacity. Design Rules for Materials will focus on scaling deposition methods for advanced fibers and composites, including graphene-coated garments.

Biomimetic research will develop enzyme-functionalized algae-based biomotors for efficient decontamination. Photocatalysis efforts will characterize chemical reactivity and synthesize plasmonic nanoparticles for sensor applications. AI approaches will be used for materials discovery, although funding for this area will decrease in FY 2026 due to program adjustments.