DoD Melanoma, Melanoma Academy Leadership Award | HT942525MRPMALA

Opportunity Information: Apply for HT942525MRPMALA

The DoD Melanoma, Melanoma Academy Leadership Award (Funding Opportunity Number HT942525MRPMALA) is a FY25 Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) opportunity run through the Department of the Army, U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity (USAMRAA). It is designed to fund leadership for the Melanoma Research Program (MRP) Melanoma Academy, a structured, interactive virtual academy that pairs established melanoma investigators with independent, early-career investigators (referred to as Scholars). The central goal is to grow the next generation of highly productive melanoma researchers by combining collaborative research activities with intentional career development, mentorship, and a shared learning environment.

A defining aspect of this award is that it is built as a partnered leadership mechanism rather than a single-PI project. The application must include two principal investigators with distinct roles: an Initiating PI who serves as the Melanoma Academy Director, and a Partnering PI who serves as the Melanoma Academy Deputy Director. The submission process is also split: only the Initiating PI submits the pre-application, while both the Initiating and Partnering PIs submit full applications if invited forward, with the Partnering PI submitting an abbreviated full-application package. If the proposal is selected for funding, each PI is issued a separate award to their respective recipient organization(s), reflecting the shared responsibility for running the academy.

In terms of funding and timing, CDMRP expects to commit about $2.1 million total to support roughly one Leadership Award application under this announcement, with a combined direct cost cap of $1.3 million across the partnered awards. The maximum period of performance is 4 years. Although this is a FY25 opportunity, the agency notes that FY25 funds will expire for use on September 30, 2031, and that awards supported with FY25 funds are expected to be made no later than September 30, 2026. The opportunity is categorized as discretionary, uses a cooperative agreement funding instrument (which typically implies substantial programmatic involvement by the funder compared to a standard grant), and falls under CFDA 12.420 for research and development. Eligibility is listed as unrestricted. The original closing date is October 1, 2025, and the posting was created May 14, 2025.

Overall, this call is less about supporting a single melanoma research project and more about resourcing the leadership, structure, and operations of a virtual academy that develops early-career investigators through close engagement with experienced mentors, with the Director and Deputy Director jointly responsible for delivering a collaborative training-and-research ecosystem that strengthens the melanoma research workforce.

• 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 Melanoma, Melanoma Academy Leadership 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 2025-05-14.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2025-10-01. (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.

Apply for HT942525MRPMALA

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