On April 8, 2020, the Department of the Army (USAMRAA) https://usamraa.army.mil posted a grant notice seeking applications for their “Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program” (PRMRP) https://cdmrp.army.mil/prmrp/default. Applications are being solicited for the Defense Health Agency’s (DHA) Research and Development Directorate.
Estimated total program funding is expected to be $30,000,000 with 5 awards. Funding for the applications received is contingent upon available Federal funds for the program as well as the number of applications which must be received by June 22, 2020.
The goal for the funding opportunity is to improve the health, care, and well-being of service members, veterans, and beneficiaries by addressing emerging viral diseases and respiratory health.
Some of the specific focus areas for emerging viral diseases can include:
- Development of a wearable sensor that will provide real-time diagnostics that can be used as a point-of-care for emerging viral diseases to predict illness before onset of symptoms. The diagnostic platform should be applicable to COVID-19. Virus-specific markers
- Development of surveillance predictive modeling tools that will be able to leverage AI approaches to predict outbreaks and epidemics and support strategies for mitigating the threat of COVID-19
- Research to determine the direct and indirect impact of COVID-19 on military readiness, interpersonal/ family dynamics, behavioral and mental health issues and other key risk factors such as substance abuse and risky health-related behaviors
Some of the focus areas related to respiratory health include:
- Development of improved methods to assess and treat lung injury due to COVID-19
- Development of novel and/or innovative detection technologies or therapeutics to reduce the incidence and/or severity of lung injuries
- Development of ventilation and extracorporeal life support approaches and technologies to support lung function or airway management in response to COVID-19
The funding needs to support the rapid implementation of clinical trials but may be designed to evaluate promising new products, pharmacologic agents, devices, clinical guidance, and/or emerging approaches and technologies.
Go to https://www.grants.gov/custom/printSynopsisDetails.jsp for more details on the grant notice “CDMRP PRMRP Clinical Trial Award for Emerging Viral Diseases and Respiratory Health” (W81XEH-20-PRMRP-CTA-COV).