Dept. of Defense Announces 2020 Funding Opportunities Through the Lupus Research Program
The Department of Defense today has announced $10 million in funding opportunities for high-impact lupus research.
In April, the Department of Defense (DOD) issued a pre-announcement for fiscal year 2020 funding opportunities to give lupus researchers the time to plan and develop ideas to be submitted for funding consideration. Researchers may now submit their applications for any of the three available funding mechanisms – the Idea Award, Impact Award, or Transformative Vision Award – through eBRAP and Grants.gov.
The deadline for researchers to submit a pre-application for any of the three opportunities is August 25, and applications must be submitted by September 23.
For complete information about the funding opportunities, please visit the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program’s website.
Advocating for the Lupus Research Program
The Lupus Research Program was established in 2017 after years of advocacy led by the Lupus Foundation of America and lupus advocates. Since then, continued advocacy has secured $25 million in federal funding for the Lupus Research Program, enabling it to support 38 high-quality, high-impact research projects in its first three years.
Notably, the robust funding opportunities announced today are the result of lupus advocates successfully urging Congress to double funding for the program in fiscal year 2020 to $10 million.
The increased funding has enabled the DOD to restructure their award mechanisms for fiscal year 2020, offering larger grants than ever before through the Impact Award and establishing two new funding mechanisms, the Idea Award, focusing on innovative research “that could lead to a critical discovery or major advancement,” and the Transformative Vision Award, which will provide up to $2.5 million to projects supporting research “that will have near-term impacts on the health-related quality of life of patients of all ages and those with disproportionate health burdens.”
For more information about the type of research the Department of Defense is funding through the Lupus Research Program, click here to read about the research the Program funded in 2019. And to be sure Congress continues to support this critical program, sign up as an advocate!