DOD, Spinal Cord Injury, Clinical Translation Research Award | HT9425 23 SCIRP CTRA

Opportunity Information: Apply for HT9425 23 SCIRP CTRA

The Department of Defense Spinal Cord Injury Research Program (SCIRP) Clinical Translation Research Award (CTRA) is a funding opportunity designed to move promising spinal cord injury (SCI) ideas into real-world clinical use, especially when the work is not yet ready for a large, definitive clinical trial. The focus is on high-impact, new, or emerging clinical research where feasibility work, pilot testing, and practical clinical validation are still needed. Projects are expected to show a clear line of sight to improving the standard of care for people living with SCI, with specific relevance to military Service Members and Veterans, while still being applicable to the broader SCI community. The program emphasizes research that can shape near-term clinical practice as well as longer-term care improvements, including contributions to evidence-based guidelines.

A central purpose of the CTRA is clinical translation: taking techniques, tools, interventions, or approaches that may be supported by early evidence and testing them in the clinical environment in a way that reduces risk and strengthens the rationale for future, larger trials. In other words, the award is meant to fund the steps that help a research team confidently say, "This is feasible, safe, measurable, and ready for the next level." At the same time, the opportunity is also aimed at identifying which diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation options work best, so that patients, clinicians, caregivers, and policymakers have stronger evidence for making difficult decisions. The DoD is looking for studies that can clarify what should be done in practice, not just what is interesting scientifically.

Applications must spell out not only what will be accomplished during the project period, but also how the team will move the work forward after the funded period ends. That includes the scientific and strategic preparations needed to advance to the next stage of clinical development or implementation. Reviewers will be looking for a realistic pathway to the next milestone, such as readiness for a larger multi-site trial, adoption into clinical workflows, development of clinical guidance, or other concrete steps that show momentum beyond the grant itself.

In terms of study design, the CTRA supports prospective clinical research that involves human participants. Studies may be interventional (testing an intervention, device, rehabilitation approach, or clinical procedure) or observational (following participants to measure outcomes, biomarkers, functional recovery, or care patterns). Some retrospective analysis can be included, but projects that are purely retrospective or limited to database-only work are not allowed. The program expects at least some element of prospective human enrollment, meaning participants are recruited and followed forward in time under the study protocol. Small or pilot clinical trials are allowed, and applicants are not restricted to traditional randomized controlled trial formats as long as the chosen design matches the study objective. The solicitation also explicitly encourages decentralized clinical trial strategies when a trial is proposed, such as virtual or remote elements for recruitment, participant communication, and data collection, which can reduce participant burden and improve accessibility.

This award mechanism is positioned between other SCIRP options, and the distinctions matter. Compared with the SCIRP Clinical Trial Award (CTA), the CTRA is broader because it allows both clinical research projects and clinical trials, whereas the CTA is limited to clinical trials only. Compared with the SCIRP Translational Research Award (TRA), the CTRA is more permissive about being entirely a clinical trial; under the TRA, a clinical trial can be included but must be only one component of a broader translational project. The CTRA is also explicitly not for animal research. Teams seeking support for animal studies are directed to other SCIRP mechanisms such as the TRA or the Investigator-Initiated Research Award (IIRA).

From an administrative standpoint, the opportunity is run by the Department of Defense (Department of the Army, USAMRAA). The funding instrument can be a grant or a cooperative agreement, and eligibility is described as unrestricted (open to any type of entity, subject to any additional eligibility details in the full announcement). The Funding Opportunity Number is HT9425-23-SCIRP-CTRA, the CFDA number is 12.420, and the original closing date listed for this cycle was September 7, 2023. The announcement indicated an expectation of approximately two awards. The award ceiling was listed as 0 in the source data, which typically signals that applicants should rely on the full solicitation text for budget limits or that ceilings may be specified elsewhere in the program materials rather than in the summary listing.

Overall, the CTRA is best understood as a bridge-to-next-step mechanism for SCI clinical translation: it funds the kind of rigorous, prospective human research that helps determine whether an approach is practical, safe, and promising enough to justify larger trials or broader clinical adoption, with an explicit emphasis on outcomes that can influence care for Service Members, Veterans, and the wider SCI population.

• 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, Spinal Cord Injury, Clinical Translation Research Award" 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 30, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Sep 07, 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 2 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 SCIRP CTRA

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