Prostate Cancer, Health Disparity Fellowship Award | W81XWH 18 PCRP HDFA

Opportunity Information: Apply for W81XWH 18 PCRP HDFA

The Prostate Cancer, Health Disparity Fellowship Award is a Department of Defense (DoD) Prostate Cancer Research Program (PCRP) funding opportunity designed to build the next generation of investigators focused on prostate cancer health disparities. It is aimed at postdoctoral researchers who are still early in their careers and who want dedicated support to launch a prostate cancer disparity research project while receiving structured mentorship. The core purpose is twofold: to generate research that directly addresses inequities in prostate cancer outcomes, and to help the fellow develop into an independent researcher positioned to lead future disparity-focused work.

A defining feature of this mechanism is that the postdoctoral fellow serves as the Principal Investigator (PI) on the application. The PI is expected to show clear promise and commitment to becoming a leader in prostate cancer health disparity research, based on past achievements and career trajectory. Importantly, prior experience in prostate cancer research or disparity research is not required, which makes this award accessible to strong early-career scientists coming from adjacent fields who can make a credible case for transitioning into this space. Eligibility is constrained by experience level: applicants must have three years or less of postdoctoral research experience (not counting clinical residency or clinical fellowship training) as of March 31, 2019, reflecting the program's intent to support researchers at a genuinely formative stage.

Mentorship is mandatory and is treated as a central pillar rather than a formality. Applications must name at least one Mentor with demonstrated expertise in prostate cancer health disparity research and a proven mentoring track record, typically evidenced through active funding, recent publications, and successful training outcomes. The program allows the primary Mentor to be a junior faculty member, but it strongly encourages adding a secondary Mentor with deeper experience if the primary Mentor is relatively early career. Beyond credentials, the expectation is that the mentoring team shows a concrete, credible commitment to moving the PI toward independence, meaning the relationship should be structured to support skill-building, leadership development, and increasing scientific autonomy over the fellowship period.

On the research side, the proposed project must align with one or more FY18 PCRP Overarching Challenges and must be explicitly framed around a prostate cancer health disparity affecting a defined population or community. The science is expected to go beyond simply documenting differences; it should be built around a rationale and approach that can plausibly contribute to reducing and ultimately eliminating disparities in prostate cancer incidence, morbidity, and mortality. The solicitation makes clear that disparity drivers can be examined from multiple angles, including social and cultural factors as well as biological contributors, so projects can span community-level determinants, health systems issues, or mechanistic questions, as long as the disparity connection is direct and well-justified. Reviewers will look for a well-developed, feasible research plan with clearly articulated methods, resources, and a realistic pathway to completing the work. Preliminary data are encouraged but not required, and any preliminary data included should come from the PI, the Mentor(s), or collaborators on the team.

A second required major component is the Researcher Development Plan, which functions as a tailored training blueprint. The application must lay out an individualized plan for building the PI's prostate cancer-focused expertise, describing what skills will be gained, how they will be learned, and how that training directly supports both the proposed research and the PI's progression to independence. The plan should also describe the research and mentoring environment in practical terms (facilities, datasets, technical expertise, professional development opportunities). If the home institution lacks certain resources or mentoring depth, the program allows those gaps to be addressed through collaborations with other institutions. When the PI will rely on another institution's resources to carry out key parts of the project, the opportunity strongly encourages naming a co-Mentor at that collaborating site to ensure meaningful oversight and integration.

To strengthen scientific impact and credibility, the opportunity encourages several rigor and translational elements where appropriate. These include authenticating proposed cell lines, applying strong statistical rigor in preclinical animal studies, and incorporating experiments or analyses that clarify clinical relevance and translatability. The announcement also highlights specific PCRP-supported resources that applicants may leverage, particularly when human biospecimens or linked clinical data are important. These include the Prostate Cancer Biorepository Network (PCBN) and the North Carolina-Louisiana Prostate Cancer Project (PCaP). In addition, studies using large patient datasets with long-term health records and biospecimen repositories are encouraged, especially when paired with modern analytic approaches such as genomic and proteomic profiling, bioinformatics, and mathematical modeling.

Programmatically, the work must be relevant to active duty Service members, Veterans, military beneficiaries, and/or the broader American public, reflecting the DoD mission context for PCRP funding. Administratively, this opportunity (Funding Opportunity Number W81XWH 18 PCRP HDFA) was released by the Department of Defense, Department of the Army (USAMRAA), categorized under Science and Technology and other Research and Development, and offered through cooperative agreement and grant instruments. The original posting date was June 19, 2018, with an original closing date of October 11, 2018. The opportunity anticipated making about six awards, and eligibility is described as unrestricted in the listing (open to any type of entity), subject to any clarifications in the full eligibility text. The award ceiling is listed as 0 in the summary data, which typically signals that applicants should rely on the full announcement for budget limits and allowable cost guidance rather than interpreting the ceiling field at face value.

• 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 "Prostate Cancer, Health Disparity Fellowship 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 Jun 19, 2018.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Oct 11, 2018. (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 6 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.

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