The intent of the Breakthrough Award is to support promising research that has high potential to lead to or make breakthroughs in breast cancer. The critical components of this award mechanism are:
Impact: Research supported by the Breakthrough Award will have the potential for a major impact and accelerate progress toward ending breast cancer. The impact may be near-term or long-term but must move beyond a minor advancement and have the potential to lead to a fundamentally new approach that is significantly more effective than interventions already approved or in clinical development. Applications are expected to identify the breast cancer patients or at-risk individuals who would ultimately benefit from the proposed research.
Research Scope: The Breakthrough Award is structured with four different funding levels. The levels are designed to support major (but not all) stages of research that will lead to clinical application. Each level has a defined research scope. It is the responsibility of the Principal Investigator (PI) to select the level that aligns with the scope of the proposed research. The funding level should be selected based on the research scope defined in the program announcement, and not on the amount of the budget.
The current program announcement discusses the Breakthrough Award Levels 1 and 2. Funding Levels 3 and 4 are available under other program announcements (HT942524BCRPBTA3 and HT942524BCRPBTA4, respectively). The PI is strongly encouraged to review the research scope defined under each funding level as described in the corresponding Breakthrough Award program announcement before submitting the pre-application. An application that does not meet the intent of the funding level selected will not be recommended for funding, even if it might meet the intent of a different funding level.
The following are general descriptions, although not all-inclusive, of the scope of research projects that would be appropriate to propose under the current program announcement:
Funding Level 1: Innovative, high-risk/high-reward research that is in the earliest stages of idea development or is an untested theory that addresses an important problem. To foster research that yields new avenues of investigation, preliminary data are not required. Proof of concept is the anticipated outcome.
Funding Level 2: Research that is already supported by substantial preliminary or published data and strongly validates clinical translation in a well-defined context within the
breast cancer landscape.
Funding Level 2: Population Science and Prevention Studies: Population Science and Prevention Studies should involve investigations into why certain human patient populations differ in cancer risk or clinical prognosis. The studies should focus on the analysis of human data and biospecimens. Research should be already supported by substantial preliminary or published data and strongly validate clinical translation in a well-defined context within the breast cancer landscape. With compelling justification, population science and prevention studies may request higher levels of funding and an additional year in the period of performance.
Partnering PI Option: The Breakthrough Award encourages applications that include meaningful and productive partnerships between investigators. The Partnering PI Option is structured to accommodate two PIs. 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 will be identified as a Partnering PI. Both PIs should contribute significantly to the development of the proposed research project, including the Project Narrative, Statement of Work (SOW), and other required components. The PIs may have expertise in similar or disparate scientific disciplines, but each PI is expected to bring distinct contributions to the application. The application should clearly demonstrate that both PIs have equal intellectual input into the design of the project and will devote similar and appropriate levels of effort to the conduct of the project. It is expected that funding will be balanced between both PIs unless appropriately justified. New partnerships are encouraged, but not required. The application is expected to describe how the PIs' unique expertise combined as a partnership will better address the research question, how the unique expertise that each individual brings to the application is critical for the research strategy and completion of the SOW, and why the work should be done together rather than through separate efforts. To meet the intent of the Partnering PI Option, applicants are discouraged from being named as a Partnering PI on multiple Breakthrough Award Levels 1 and 2 applications unless they are clearly unique, meaningful partnerships addressing distinct research questions. Applications in which a mentor and their current postdoctoral fellow or junior investigator are named as Initiating and Partnering PIs do not meet the intent of the Partnering PI Option. Applications where one PI is providing samples, animal models, or investigational agents while the other PI is conducting most, or all of the experiments and analyses, do not meet the intent of the Partnering PI Option. 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. For individual submission requirements for the Initiating and Partnering PIs, refer to Section II.D.2, Content and Form of the Application Submission.
Personnel: Applications are expected to include an appropriate and robust research team with the combined backgrounds and breast cancer-related expertise to enable successful conduct of the project.
Research involving human subjects and research involving human anatomical substances and data is permitted; however, clinical trials are not allowed under this funding opportunity.
Applications seeking support for a clinical trial may be submitted to the FY24 BCRP Breakthrough Award Level 3 and Level 4 program announcements (HT942524BCRPBTA3 and HT942524BCRPBTA4, respectively).
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 (https://health.mil/Reference-Center/Congressional-Testimonies/2018/05/03/Metastatic-Cancer-Research) and submit research ideas to address these recommendations provided they are within the limitations of this funding opportunity and fit within the FY24 BCRP priorities.
Innovative research involving nuclear medicine and related techniques to support early diagnosis, more effective treatment, and improved health outcomes of active-duty Service Members and their Families is encouraged. Such research could improve diagnostic and targeted treatment capabilities through noninvasive techniques and may drive the development of precision imaging and advanced targeted therapies.
The proposed research must be relevant to active-duty Service Members, Veterans, military beneficiaries, and/or the American public. Collaborations between researchers at military or Veteran institutions and non-military institutions are strongly encouraged. These relationships can leverage knowledge, infrastructure, and access to unique clinical populations that the partners bring to the research effort, ultimately advancing cancer research that is of significance to the Warfighter, military Families, and the American public.
Clinical trials are not allowed. A clinical trial is defined in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 45, Part 46.102 (45 CFR 46.102) as a research study in which one or more human subjects are prospectively assigned to one or more interventions (which may include a placebo or another control) to evaluate the effects of the interventions on biomedical or behavioral health-related outcomes.
Studies that do not seek to measure safety, effectiveness, and/or efficacy outcome(s) of an intervention are not considered clinical trials.
For the purposes of this funding opportunity, research that meets the definition of a clinical trial is distinct from clinical research. Clinical research encompasses research with human data, human specimens, and/or interaction with human subjects. Clinical research is observational in nature and includes:
(1) Research conducted with human subjects and/or material of human origin such as data, specimens, and cognitive phenomena for which an investigator (or co-investigator) does not seek to assess the safety, effectiveness, and/or efficacy outcomes of an intervention. Research meeting this definition may include but is not limited to: (a) mechanisms of human disease, (b) diagnostic or detection studies (e.g., biomarker or imaging), (c) health disparity studies, and (d) development of new technologies.
(2) Epidemiologic and behavioral studies that do not seek to assess the safety, effectiveness, and/or efficacy outcomes of an intervention.
(3) Outcomes research and health services research that do not fit under the definition of clinical trial.
Excluded from the definition of clinical research are in vitro studies that utilize human data or specimens that cannot be linked to a living individual and meet the requirements for exemption under 46.104(d)(4) of the Common Rule.
The funding instrument for awards made under the program announcement will be grants (31 USC 6304).
The anticipated direct costs budgeted for the entire period of performance for an FY24 BCRP Breakthrough Award Funding Level 1 should not exceed $450,000 for applications with a single PI or $750,000 if applying under the Partnering PI Option.
The anticipated direct costs budgeted for the entire period of performance for an FY24 BCRP Breakthrough Award Level 2 should not exceed $1.0M for applications with a single PI or $1.5M if applying under the Partnering PI Option.
The anticipated direct costs budgeted for the entire period of performance for an FY24 BCRP Breakthrough Award Funding Level 2, Population Science and Prevention Studies, should not exceed $1.5M for applications with a single PI or $2.0M if applying under the Partnering PI Option. Refer to Section II.D.5, Funding Restrictions, for detailed funding information.
Awards supported with FY24 funds will be made no later than September 30, 2025.
The CDMRP expects to allot approximately $20.9M to fund approximately 14 Breakthrough Award Levels 1 and 2 applications. Funding of applications received is contingent upon the availability of federal funds for this program, the number of applications received, the quality and merit of the applications as evaluated by peer and programmatic review, and the requirements of the government. Funds to be obligated on any award resulting from this funding opportunity will be available for use for a limited time period based on the fiscal year of the funds. It is anticipated that awards made from this FY24 funding opportunity will be funded with FY24 funds, which will expire for use on September 30, 2030.
