DoD Peer Reviewed Alzheimer’s Transforming Care Award | HT942524PRARPTRCA

Opportunity Information: Apply for HT942524PRARPTRCA

The DoD Peer Reviewed Alzheimer’s Transforming Care Award (FY24 TrCA) is a Department of the Army (USAMRAA) funding opportunity under the Peer Reviewed Alzheimer’s Research Program that supports applied, person-centered research aimed at improving day-to-day life for people living with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (AD/ADRD) and the people who support them. The central goal is practical impact: projects should generate answers and workable solutions that improve quality of life, reduce caregiver burden and stress, reduce health disparities, and strengthen supports for individuals with AD/ADRD, their care partners/caregivers, and the broader family and community context. In this program, “family” is intentionally defined broadly to include family of origin and family of choice, and “care” is defined beyond clinical medicine, emphasizing the wider care landscape such as education, integration of services, and social and community supports rather than physician-delivered medical interventions.

A major expectation is that proposed work directly targets a critical unmet need and does so in a way that protects dignity and respects the lived experience of dementia. Applications must explain who the project is intended to benefit, show how the study population will be representative of that group, and demonstrate cultural competence throughout the research lifecycle (from idea development to implementation and dissemination). The program explicitly frames cultural competence as a core strategy for reducing disparities and making results more usable across diverse communities, with attention to social and structural determinants of health such as sex, gender, ethnicity, culture, socioeconomic status, geography, and access to health care.

The award prioritizes research that can change the care experience in the near term, especially work focused on long-term care improvements, psychosocial wellness, and supports that help people age in place and remain connected to their communities. Example topic areas include navigating the AD/ADRD diagnosis and care pathway, addressing caregiver stress, and dementia care considerations that may be specific to military Service Members, Veterans, and their families. Projects can address knowledge gaps and can include interventions, strategies, technologies, and tools. Clinical research and clinical trials are allowed, but the opportunity is not meant for trials that solely test or evaluate drug (pharmacological) interventions. Animal model studies are not allowed under this mechanism. Another key requirement is that proposed projects represent a non-incremental advance in the care field, and applicants must bring preliminary data to justify feasibility and readiness.

Community collaboration is not optional here; it is built into the structure of the mechanism. The program requires meaningful, equitable partnership with AD/ADRD lived-experience communities so that community members share responsibility and ownership across planning, design, implementation, evaluation, and dissemination. Acceptable collaboration structures include integrating lived experience consultants (such as individuals with AD/ADRD, family members, or caregivers), partnering with community-based organizations (advocacy groups, service providers, policymakers, and similar stakeholders), and/or establishing a Community Advisory Board. The intent is to ensure the work is responsive to real-world needs and that findings are interpreted and communicated in ways that communities can actually use.

Applicants are also expected to be very clear about outcomes and implementation. Proposals should define measurable outcomes, show a realistic pathway to feasibility, and describe how the approach could be scaled for community-level use. A distinctive requirement is “manualization”: teams must plan to compile the intervention or approach into a usable manual and describe how that manual will be refined based on research findings and then fed back into lived-experience and care communities. In addition, during years 2 through 4 of the performance period, the Principal Investigator must present progress at a Milestone Meeting held in the National Capital Area, with the option to bring up to three team members including a community partner.

The opportunity also includes a Career Initiation or Transition (CIT) Partnership Option designed to grow capacity in the AD/ADRD field through a two-PI collaboration. One PI can be a Career Initiation PI (early-career, 3 to 7 years into an independent position) or a Career Transition PI (an investigator new to military health, TBI, or AD/ADRD, with only nominal publications in the field), partnered with an investigator who brings complementary experience. The two PIs are expected to make distinct, meaningful contributions to the science and application materials, and if funded, each PI will be named on an individual award within their organization.

Administratively, this is a discretionary science and technology/research and development opportunity offered as a cooperative agreement (meaning the funder may have substantial involvement during the project). Eligibility is listed as unrestricted. The funding opportunity number is HT942524PRARPTRCA, the CFDA number is 12.420, and the original closing date was June 20, 2024. The agency anticipated making about three awards, and the posted award ceiling was not specified in the provided listing.

• The Dept. of the Army -- USAMRAA in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "DoD Peer Reviewed Alzheimer’s Transforming Care 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 2024-03-25.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-06-20. (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 3 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted.

Apply for HT942524PRARPTRCA

[Watch] Creating a grant proposal using the step-by-step wizard inside the applicant portal: