DoD Combat Readiness Medical, Rapid Development and Translational Research Award | W81XWH 22 S CRRP

Opportunity Information: Apply for W81XWH 22 S CRRP

The DoD Combat Readiness Medical, Rapid Development and Translational Research Award (CRRP RDTRA) is a FY22 funding opportunity from the U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity under the Combat Readiness Medical Research Program. Its core goal is to strengthen medical capability and overall force readiness where it matters most: traumatic injury care in combat and other high-stress settings where resources are limited, conditions are austere, evacuation may be delayed, and mass casualty events are possible. The program is aimed at saving lives by pushing practical, near-term solutions forward for prolonged field care and en route care, with an emphasis on real-world usability in pre-hospital and operational environments.

The award is built around rapid development and translation, meaning it is meant to move credible, promising work toward clinical application quickly. The DoD is looking for projects that represent a meaningful leap ahead rather than incremental progress, and that can produce broadly useful advances across multiple trauma care problems. Proposed work can result in healthcare products and technologies (such as diagnostics, devices, or therapeutics), practice guidelines, and other “knowledge products” that can speed the adoption of military-relevant medical solutions into clinical or operational use. A key theme is “leveraging” existing translational resources, which the solicitation defines as building on what already exists (data, platforms, prototypes, partnerships, infrastructure, prior studies) to amplify knowledge gains or accelerate technical maturity. Proposals are expected to consider the realities of military care, including varied skill levels among medical providers, limited supplies, and harsh or unpredictable environmental conditions, while still remaining relevant to civilian trauma care when there is clear overlap.

Impact is treated as central to competitiveness. Applicants are expected to clearly explain both short-term and long-term impact tied to the FY22 CRRP Focus Area(s), showing how success would improve readiness, reduce preventable deaths, optimize treatment of life-threatening injuries, and improve longer-term outcomes. The program explicitly excludes fundamental basic research, defined here as research aimed at understanding underlying phenomena without a specific path to an application or product. Instead, it supports applied, preclinical, and translational efforts that are already grounded in substantial preliminary or published evidence and are positioned to validate and advance clinical translation.

In terms of allowable study types, the RDTRA can fund preclinical research (including animal studies), clinical research, and small clinical trials such as first-in-human or Phase 1/1b studies. It does not allow Phase 2 or Phase 3 clinical trials intended for FDA licensure of drugs or pivotal/definitive testing for FDA device clearance. It also prohibits studies that would require an Exception From Informed Consent (EFIC). The opportunity uses standard DoD definitions for clinical research and clinical trials, including the requirement that funded clinical trials post the IRB-approved informed consent form on a publicly available federal website in line with 32 CFR 219. Projects must be relevant to active-duty Service Members, Veterans, military beneficiaries, and/or the broader American public.

Applicants choose between two funding structures. The base RDTRA supports up to a 2-year period of performance with anticipated total costs not exceeding $2.2 million. A second option allows a 2-year base phase plus a potential third-year option phase, for up to 3 total years; the option year is capped at an additional $1.0 million and must be a distinct but closely related follow-on effort that builds directly on outcomes from the base phase, with separate milestones and a non-overlapping budget and schedule. Progress is reviewed through a virtual milestone review around month 18, and the option year is not guaranteed; it depends on future appropriations, alignment with future congressional direction, satisfactory performance, and continued program relevance.

For proposals that include clinical trials and may require regulatory authorization, the timeline expectations are strict. If an Investigational New Drug (IND) application or Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) is needed for the base period, it must be submitted to FDA by the application deadline; otherwise, applicants must provide evidence from the IRB of record or FDA that an IND/IDE is not required. If an IND/IDE is needed for the option year, applicants must show FDA communication indicating the application is active and safe to proceed before the base period ends. International trial sites add another requirement: proof that submissions have been made to relevant host-country regulators by the same deadlines. If the clinical trial occurs during the base period (either in a standard RDTRA or the base phase of an RDTRA with option), the trial must begin no later than month 9.

From a funding and administration standpoint, the DoD anticipated allocating about $8.71 million total to make roughly four awards. Awards were expected no later than September 30, 2023, and FY22 funds were expected to remain available for obligation and use through September 30, 2028. Eligibility is broadly unrestricted (open to many entity types), and awards may be issued as grants or cooperative agreements, with the choice depending on whether the government expects “substantial involvement” in the work (more involvement generally leads to a cooperative agreement). Extramural applications are reviewed alongside intramural submissions, and the government reserves the right to fund any mix of extramural and intramural projects depending on merit, fit, and available funding.

The solicitation also emphasizes compliance and research oversight, especially for human and animal work. Any DoD-funded research involving human subjects, human anatomical substances, or human cadavers must undergo review by the USAMRDC Office of Research Protections Human Research Protection Office (HRPO) before research begins, in addition to local IRB or ethics review. Local IRB approval is not required at submission, but applicants should plan for HRPO administrative review timelines of up to about three months after complete documentation is provided. Multi-institution human studies must include a plan for single-IRB arrangements and identify the lead institution responsible for the master protocol and consent. Animal research similarly requires USAMRDC ACURO review in addition to local IACUC, with an expected review timeline of roughly three to four months, and animal projects must include an Animal Research Plan and address rigor and reproducibility expectations (randomization, blinding, sample size estimation, and transparent data handling), aligning with guidance such as ARRIVE 2.0. If projects rely on access to DoD or VA data, resources, or patient populations, the application must describe that access up front and include a plan to maintain it throughout the project.

Taken together, the CRRP RDTRA is essentially a translation-focused trauma-care accelerator: it funds mature, evidence-backed ideas that can be pushed quickly toward fieldable clinical tools, operationally practical practices, or early clinical validation, with strong attention to military constraints, measurable milestones, regulatory readiness, and a clear pathway to real impact in combat casualty care and closely related civilian trauma settings.

• 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 Combat Readiness Medical, Rapid Development and Translational Research 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 May 06, 2022.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Sep 14, 2022. (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 4 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.

Apply for W81XWH 22 S CRRP

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