DoD Breast Cancer, Breakthrough Award Levels 1 and 2 | HT942525BCRPBTA122

Opportunity Information: Apply for HT942525BCRPBTA122

The Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program (BCRP) Breakthrough Award Levels 1 and 2 opportunity is a discretionary research grant run through the U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity (USAMRAA). It is designed to support breast cancer projects that are genuinely bold and positioned to produce a meaningful breakthrough, not just incremental progress. The central expectation is that proposed work has strong potential to lead to, or directly make, a breakthrough with major impact on breast cancer, especially in ways that can ultimately move toward clinical application.

A core requirement is that every application must address at least one of the FY25 BCRP overarching challenges. The solicitation notes that an exception is possible, but only if an applicant provides adequate justification for why the project should be considered outside those challenges. Even when addressing a challenge, the proposal needs to do so in a way that is clearly tied to a breakthrough outcome. In practice, that means the project rationale, approach, and anticipated results should be framed around solving a major barrier, changing clinical thinking, enabling a new intervention strategy, or substantially improving prevention, detection, or treatment pathways.

This announcement covers two of the three Breakthrough Award funding levels offered under the broader mechanism: Funding Level 1 and Funding Level 2. Each level has its own defined research scope meant to align funding size and project ambition with a particular stage of the research-to-clinic trajectory. Level 1 generally supports earlier or smaller-scope breakthrough-oriented efforts, while Level 2 supports more advanced, expanded, or otherwise larger-scope work that still fits the Breakthrough Award intent. A distinctive element of Level 2 is that it also includes a Population Science and Prevention Studies option, signaling that the program is not limited to lab-based or purely therapeutic development work. For population science and prevention-focused projects under Level 2, the announcement indicates that applicants may be allowed to request higher funding and an additional year of performance, but only when there is compelling justification that the expanded budget and timeline are necessary to complete the proposed work in a rigorous way.

The program also provides flexibility in how leadership is structured. Applicants may submit with a single Principal Investigator (PI), or they may use a two-PI model called the Partnering PI Option (PPIO). Under the PPIO, the two investigators are designated as the Initiating PI and the Partnering PI. The process is staged: only the Initiating PI submits the pre-application, but if the effort moves forward, both investigators must submit at the full application stage. The announcement is explicit that administrative compliance matters here: an application may be withdrawn if both the initiating and partnering full applications are not submitted by the deadline, or if either the initiating or partnering application is administratively withdrawn. This structure is meant to support true collaborative science while still enforcing clear accountability and submission requirements.

From an administrative standpoint, this is a grant opportunity (FundingInstrumentType: Grant) in the Science and Technology / Research and Development category, associated with CFDA number 12.420. Eligibility is listed as unrestricted, which typically means a wide range of applicant organizations and investigators may apply, subject to standard DoD and grants.gov requirements spelled out in the full program announcement. The opportunity number is HT942525BCRPBTA122, and the posted closing date is September 10, 2025. The listing indicates an expected nine awards. The award ceiling is not specified in the provided source data, which usually means applicants need to consult the full announcement for the maximum allowable direct and total cost amounts by funding level, as well as any caps or special rules for the population science/prevention option.

Overall, this opportunity is best suited for teams proposing ambitious, high-impact breast cancer research that aligns to one or more FY25 BCRP overarching challenges and is structured around a credible path to a breakthrough outcome. It is intentionally positioned for work that can change the field, with defined lanes (Levels 1 and 2) to match the maturity and scale of the proposed research, and with an explicit option under Level 2 to support population science and prevention studies when the justification and design warrant expanded resources and time.

• 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 Breast Cancer, Breakthrough Award Levels 1 and 2" 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 2025-06-16.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-09-10. (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 9 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted.

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