DOD Kidney Cancer, Academy of Kidney Cancer Investigators Early-Career Investigator Award | W81XWH 21 KCRP AKCIECIA

Opportunity Information: Apply for W81XWH 21 KCRP AKCIECIA

The DOD Kidney Cancer Research Program (KCRP) Academy of Kidney Cancer Investigators Early-Career Investigator Award (AKCIECIA) is designed to build the next generation of kidney cancer research leaders by placing early-career faculty into a structured, highly interactive virtual academy. Rather than functioning like a typical mentored career development grant that operates mostly within one institution, this award is built around an organized national network that combines intensive mentoring, peer-to-peer support, and collaboration across institutions. The central idea is to accelerate both scientific independence and professional growth by embedding the awardee in an ongoing community that shares expertise, resources, and career development opportunities focused specifically on kidney cancer.

At the core of the program is the Academy of Kidney Cancer Investigators (AKCI), which is made up of Early-Career Investigator (ECI) and Designated Mentor pairs (often from different institutions) along with an Academy Dean. The ECI is the Principal Investigator (PI) on the application and is expected to run a kidney cancer research project that can be basic, translational, and/or clinical in scope. A key feature is that the mentor does not need to be at the same institution as the ECI, which is meant to remove common barriers for promising junior faculty who may not have strong kidney cancer mentorship or specialized tools locally. The program explicitly encourages applications from early-career investigators whose ability to pursue kidney cancer research is limited by minimal resources, lack of access to kidney cancer-specific infrastructure, limited collaboration opportunities, or absence of an appropriate mentor at their home institution, as long as those obstacles are clearly described in the application.

The academy structure comes with concrete participation expectations that go beyond conducting the proposed research. Awardees are expected to engage actively in monthly webinars, annual workshops, and regular communication with other academy members, including other ECIs, mentors, and the Academy Dean, and also to connect with the kidney cancer advocacy community. This active participation is not treated as optional; it is part of the award model and reflects the program goal of creating a collaborative, nationally networked cohort of investigators. The Academy Dean, selected previously (FY19), plays an oversight and facilitation role by tracking ECI progress, supporting mentor-mentee interactions, and strengthening connections across research and advocacy communities. The Dean also helps drive professional and leadership development, emphasizing practical skills needed to win funding and manage a productive lab or research team.

From a career development standpoint, the award provides four years of support and protected time for the ECI to pursue intensive research under the guidance of an experienced kidney cancer mentor. While the academy creates a shared learning environment for the whole group, responsibility for the individual career development plan and the design and execution of the research project sits primarily with the ECI and the Designated Mentor. Applicants must clearly communicate a serious commitment to a long-term career in kidney cancer research and a willingness to contribute to the academy environment, not just benefit from it. The program also requires preliminary data to demonstrate feasibility, but importantly, that preliminary data does not have to originate from kidney cancer specifically; it simply needs to support the chosen approach and show the project is workable.

The Designated Mentor role comes with specific expectations. Mentors must demonstrate a strong track record of training and mentoring early-career investigators, and the program is structured to expand mentorship capacity across the academy. To that end, every Designated Mentor must also agree to serve as a Secondary Mentor for another ECI in the academy. A mentor is limited to one Primary mentorship (their main ECI applicant) and one Secondary mentorship, and the Academy Dean cannot serve as a Designated Mentor. In-person (or designated) engagement is also built into the program: the ECI and Designated Mentor are required to attend a biennial multi-day DOD KCRP AKCI Workshop, and in alternating years, a 1-day DOD KCRP AKCI Workshop.

As with other CDMRP opportunities, the research must be relevant to the needs of active-duty Service Members, Veterans, military beneficiaries, and/or the broader American public. The announcement also highlights the Department of Defense interest in accelerating progress for advanced and recurrent cancers, pointing applicants toward the Congressionally mandated Metastatic Cancer Task Force recommendations as a potential source of aligned ideas, provided proposals still fit within kidney cancer priorities and the limits of the mechanism. Collaborations between military or Veteran institutions and non-military institutions are strongly encouraged, reflecting the program goal of leveraging unique patient populations, clinical infrastructure, and complementary expertise to produce outcomes that matter for the Warfighter community and the public.

Funding is provided through an assistance agreement, meaning awards will be issued as either a grant or a cooperative agreement depending on how much substantial involvement the DOD anticipates during performance. If the agency expects no substantial involvement, the award is a grant; if collaboration, participation, or intervention by the DOD is expected, it becomes a cooperative agreement, with the nature of that involvement specified in the final award. For FY21, the anticipated maximum direct costs for the full period of performance are capped at $725,000. The program planned to allocate roughly $3.48 million total to fund about three awards, with final funding dependent on federal fund availability, application volume, and the outcomes of scientific and programmatic review. The opportunity was released by the Department of Defense (Department of the Army, USAMRAA) under Funding Opportunity Number W81XWH-21-KCRP-AKCIECIA, posted June 14, 2021, with an original closing date of October 5, 2021, and anticipated awards made no later than September 30, 2022.

• 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 Kidney Cancer, Academy of Kidney Cancer Investigators Early-Career Investigator 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 14, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Oct 05, 2021. (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 (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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