DoD Breast Cancer, Breakthrough Award Levels 1 and 2 | HT9425 23 BCRP BTA12

Opportunity Information: Apply for HT9425 23 BCRP BTA12

The DoD Breast Cancer Research Program (BCRP) Breakthrough Award Levels 1 and 2 (Funding Opportunity Number: HT9425-23-BCRP-BTA12) is designed to back breast cancer research that is genuinely positioned to change the field, not just add another incremental finding. The core expectation is impact: projects should have a clear line of sight to making a major difference in preventing, detecting, understanding, or treating breast cancer, and they should aim to accelerate progress toward ending the disease. The program is explicitly looking for work that could lead to a fundamentally new approach or a meaningfully more effective strategy than what is already approved or currently moving through clinical development. Applicants are expected to be specific about who ultimately benefits from the work by identifying the patient groups or at-risk populations the research is meant to help.

A defining feature of this mechanism is that it is organized into four funding levels, each tied to a particular stage and scope of research on a path toward clinical application. This specific announcement covers only Levels 1 and 2; Levels 3 and 4 are offered under separate announcements (HT9425-23-BCRP-BTA3 and HT9425-23-BCRP-BTA4). The program puts the responsibility on the Principal Investigator (PI) to select the correct level based on the stated scope, not based on the desired budget. That matters because the review and funding recommendation will be anchored to whether the application truly matches the chosen level. Even a strong project can be rejected if it is misaligned with the level selected, including cases where it might have fit better under a different level.

Funding Level 1 is meant for bold, innovative, high-risk/high-reward ideas that are still at the earliest stage of development. This includes untested theories or early conceptual approaches aimed at an important breast cancer problem where the main goal is to open up a new avenue of investigation. A key advantage of Level 1 is that preliminary data are not required, which lowers the barrier for genuinely novel concepts that have not yet been widely validated. The expected deliverable is proof of concept, meaning the project should aim to show that the idea is feasible and worth pursuing further, rather than delivering a fully mature translational package.

Funding Level 2 is aimed at work that is already supported by substantial preliminary data or published evidence and is positioned for clinical translation in a clearly defined context within the breast cancer landscape. In practice, Level 2 is where an applicant is expected to show a stronger foundation: convincing biological or clinical rationale, solid supporting data, and a credible plan for how the results will translate toward patient benefit. The emphasis is not only on good science, but on the strength of the translational argument and the clarity of the clinical need being addressed.

Within Level 2, the announcement also calls out Population Science and Prevention Studies as a distinct emphasis area. These projects should focus on understanding why different human populations vary in breast cancer risk or clinical outcomes, and they should be rooted in analyses of human data and biospecimens. Like other Level 2 projects, they must be backed by substantial preliminary or published data and should strongly support clinical translation in a well-defined way. The program also signals flexibility for especially well-justified population science and prevention proposals: with compelling rationale, these studies may request higher funding levels and an additional year of performance, recognizing that rigorous human-population research can require more time and resources.

Another major element of this opportunity is the Partnering PI Option, which is intended to promote real scientific partnerships rather than superficial collaborations. Under this structure, two PIs can apply together: an Initiating PI (who handles most administrative submission tasks) and a Partnering PI. The program expects both investigators to make significant and roughly equivalent intellectual contributions to the project design and execution, including shared responsibility for the Project Narrative and the Statement of Work (SOW). The partnership can be within similar disciplines or across distinct fields, but each PI must bring unique, necessary expertise that strengthens the project in a way that would not be achieved by working separately. Funding is generally expected to be balanced between the two PIs unless there is a clear justification for a different split.

The announcement is also clear about what does not meet the intent of the Partnering PI Option. Mentor-mentee pairings (for example, a mentor with a current postdoc or junior investigator) are not considered an appropriate use of this option. Likewise, arrangements where one PI simply supplies samples, animal models, or an investigational agent while the other PI conducts most of the experimental and analytical work are viewed as insufficiently integrated. The program also discourages a single person from serving as a Partnering PI on multiple Level 1 or Level 2 applications unless each partnership is clearly distinct, meaningful, and focused on different research questions. If the application is funded, each PI will receive an individual award within the recipient organization, reflecting the expectation of shared leadership and accountability.

From an administrative standpoint, the opportunity is offered by the Department of Defense, Department of the Army, through USAMRAA. The listing indicates it is a discretionary funding opportunity and can be awarded as a grant or cooperative agreement under CFDA 12.420. Eligibility is listed as unrestricted (open to any type of entity), subject to any additional eligibility clarifications in the full announcement. The original posting shows a creation date of February 6, 2023, with an original closing date of April 11, 2023, and an anticipated total of 14 awards (as posted in the source data). The award ceiling is shown as 0 in the record provided, which usually means the specific caps are defined elsewhere in the full program announcement and may vary by level or study type, rather than being expressed as a single universal number in the summary record.

Finally, the opportunity emphasizes the need for a strong, appropriately staffed research team with the breadth of expertise required to execute the work successfully in a breast cancer context. Taken together, this mechanism is best viewed as a targeted push for either (Level 1) well-justified, high-upside concepts that need proof-of-concept support, or (Level 2) more mature, data-supported projects that can credibly argue a path toward clinical translation, including population-focused studies that explain and address differences in risk and outcomes across human groups.

• 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 Feb 06, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Apr 11, 2023. (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 14 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 HT9425 23 BCRP BTA12

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