DOD Epilepsy, Research Partnership Award | W81XWH 22 ERP RPA

Opportunity Information: Apply for W81XWH 22 ERP RPA

The Department of Defense (DOD) Epilepsy Research Program (ERP) Research Partnership Award (RPA) is a competitive research funding opportunity designed to push progress in post-traumatic epilepsy (PTE), particularly in ways that are difficult or impossible for a single lab or investigator to accomplish alone. The core idea is to fund one integrated project built around a true collaboration, where each partnering investigator contributes distinct expertise and effort to solve a shared, central PTE research problem. The program is explicitly aimed at generating synergistic outcomes that go beyond simply dividing up tasks, and it prioritizes work that matters to people living with PTE, their families, and care partners.

A defining requirement of this award is the partnership structure. Applications must include at least two investigators working together within one overarching study, typically with a Principal Investigator (PI) and one or more Co-PIs. The DOD is looking for a collaboration that is meaningfully integrated, where each partner brings unique capabilities that directly shape the scientific approach, execution, and interpretation of results. A partnership where one group only provides samples, data, access to patients, or a service function without an intellectually substantive role is considered inconsistent with the intent of the mechanism. In practice, applicants need to clearly explain what each investigator contributes, why those contributions are complementary, and how the collaboration produces a stronger and more innovative project than separate, parallel efforts would.

The program places heavy emphasis on impact. Applicants are expected to spell out both the near-term and longer-term significance of the work for the PTE field, for clinical care, and for real-world outcomes that affect individuals and families dealing with PTE. Projects are expected to align with one or more FY22 ERP Focus Areas, or else make a compelling case that the proposed topic is essential for advancing understanding of PTE and is directly responsive to the ERP mission. The opportunity also encourages researchers to involve people with lived PTE experience during project development and throughout the research process, with the goal of keeping the work grounded in practical needs and increasing the likelihood that results translate into usable tools, insights, or next-step interventions.

Military relevance is not optional. Proposed studies must be clearly tied to the health needs of military Service Members, their families, and Veterans affected by PTE. The announcement encourages collaboration with military and Veterans Affairs (VA) clinicians and researchers, reflecting the DOD interest in projects that connect with military-relevant injury patterns, care settings, and long-term outcomes after traumatic brain injury (TBI). This requirement typically means applicants need to demonstrate how their research question, study population, data sources, or translational pathway will realistically inform prevention, diagnosis, prognosis, or management of PTE in military-connected communities.

Another critical expectation is demonstrated experience in PTE research, specifically including expertise spanning both TBI and epilepsy. The PI and Co-PI(s) can come from any discipline, but the team must show it collectively understands the intersection of brain injury and epileptogenesis well enough to design and carry out credible PTE-focused work. In other words, it is not sufficient to be strong in epilepsy alone or TBI alone; the application must show real competence across both areas as they relate to PTE.

The opportunity requires preliminary support for the proposed approach. Applications must include preliminary and/or published data that justify feasibility and strengthen the scientific rationale. These supporting data can come from many sources, including lab findings, clinical observations, population-level research, or relevant peer-reviewed literature, but they must credibly back the proposed aims and methods. This requirement signals that the DOD is not treating this mechanism as purely exploratory; the project should be positioned to produce interpretable, high-value outcomes within the funded period.

In terms of allowable research, clinical trials are explicitly not permitted under this funding opportunity. However, the program allows a wide range of non-trial research, including preclinical work in animal models, observational studies involving human participants, studies using human anatomical substances, and research using existing datasets. The announcement also allows ancillary studies linked to an existing clinical trial, as long as the funded work itself is not a clinical trial. Applicants are encouraged, when relevant, to leverage established cohort studies and research infrastructures such as TRACK-TBI, the TBI Model Systems, and LIMBIC-CENC, which can strengthen feasibility, increase sample access, and improve the practical value of findings by connecting them to well-characterized populations.

Community collaboration is encouraged but not required, and the language makes clear the DOD wants research that is responsive to the priorities of people living with PTE. The announcement highlights collaborative research approaches like community-based participatory research (CBPR), participatory action research (PAR), and integrated knowledge translation (IKT). These approaches emphasize non-tokenistic partnership, where community members contribute throughout the project lifecycle, from defining needs and shaping study design to interpreting results and disseminating findings. The opportunity gives concrete examples of how teams might do this, such as including a project advisor with lived PTE experience, partnering with a community-based organization (for example, an advocacy group or service provider), or creating a community advisory board composed of multiple stakeholders.

Methodological rigor and reproducibility are also emphasized as review expectations, particularly for preclinical studies. Applicants are expected to incorporate well-established best practices such as randomization, blinding, sample-size estimation, and transparent data handling. The announcement points applicants to widely recognized standards and reporting guidance, including principles outlined by Landis et al. in Nature (2012) and the ARRIVE 2.0 guidelines for animal research, signaling that the DOD is looking for studies that can be trusted, replicated, and translated rather than results that depend on fragile or poorly controlled experimental design.

From an administrative and funding standpoint, awards under this announcement are issued as assistance agreements, meaning they can take the form of either a grant or a cooperative agreement. Which form is used depends on how much involvement the DOD anticipates having during the project period. If the agency expects no substantial involvement, it will typically be a grant; if substantial involvement is expected (for example, active collaboration or participation by the agency), it will be a cooperative agreement, with the nature of that involvement spelled out during negotiation. The budget for a single FY22 ERP Research Partnership Award is capped at a total cost of up to $1.3 million for the entire period of performance. The program anticipated funding approximately one award at around $1.3 million, with final funding dependent on federal appropriations, application volume, and scientific and programmatic review outcomes. Awards were expected to be made by September 30, 2023, and the FY22 funds associated with any resulting award were anticipated to remain available for use through September 30, 2028, reflecting the time-limited nature of federal fiscal-year funds.

• 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 Epilepsy, Research Partnership 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 Mar 18, 2022.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 23, 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 1 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 ERP RPA

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