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The DHP Research and Development (RDT&E) capability area of Force Health Protection and Readiness (FHP&R) within the Military Health Service (MHS) oversees and provides direction for the planning, programming, budgeting and execution of DHP RDT&E activities. RDT&E activity funding includes DHP elements from 6.1 (basic research) through 6.7 (product/capability enhancement). The RDT&E capability area:
- Assures that RDT&E planning and programming align to the requirements of the MHS strategic plan and mitigate Joint Force Health Protection/Joint Capability Document(s) capability gaps related to medical materiel solutions.
- Applies a sense of urgency to the acquisition and insertion of medical/health technologies and other medical materiel solutions into JFHP/MHS capabilities and systems.
- Makes broad investments in basic and applied medical research and development that increase fundamental knowledge, foster opportunities for breakthroughs and provide technology options and solutions for the future.
- Ensures optimal research investment for the health, safety and care of DoD warfighters and other beneficiaries.
- Promotes DoD-wide awareness of, and access to, private sector cutting-edge biomedical expertise and technology.
- Assures expedited technology and product transition from bench and field research to DoD beneficiaries including warfighters.
- Works to ensure that U.S. food and agriculture facilities and processes are secure.
- Informs service members, their families and interested others about DoD, and other federally-funded, research on deployment-related health issues.
- Encourages the ethical conduct of research with humans and animals.
- Works to coordinate research activities to enhance a service member’s ability to carry out the mission in question.
- Provides information and guidance on issues or Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) surrounding DoD biomedical research.
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The office of Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) is funded through the DoD via annual congressional legislation known as the Defense Appropriations Act. For most programs, the D-D sends a multi-year budget request to Congress in the form of the President's budget. However, dollars for the CDMRP are not considered part of the DoD's core mission, and are therefore not included in the DoD's requested budget. Rather, the dollars to fund CDMRP are added every year during the budget approval cycle by members of the House or Senate in response to requests by consumer advocates and disease survivors.
CDMRP appropriations have funded almost $7 billion dollars worth of research since 1992, awarding funding to over 10 thousand grants/contracts in 29 research areas. Those most relevant to the HCE’s mission include:
- Defense Medical R&D (FY 2012 appropriations of $153.2 million)
- Deployment Related Medical (FY 2012 appropriations of $101.9 million)
- DoD/VA (FY 2012 appropriations of $6.8 million)
- Institutionally Based Programs (FY 2012 appropriations of $486.31 million)
- Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program (FY 2012 appropriations of $594.5 million)
- Psychological Health/Traumatic Brain Injury (FY 2012 appropriations of $476.9 million)
These programs are often applicable, directly or indirectly, to hearing-related research areas. However, the HCE is working to create a hearing and/or sensory-specific research area within the CDMRP portfolio.
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The Defense Medical Research and Development Program (DMRDP) is directed by the Defense Health Program Enhancement initiative in the office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs. The DMRDP is funded via non-congressional special interest appropriated dollars. Program execution is managed by the United States Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC), with program priorities identified by the Joint Program Committees (JPCs) and focused on combat casualty care, military clinical and rehabilitative medicine, military infectious diseases, and military operational medicine. Intramural and extramural research projects are funded via the DMRDP to promote program objectives, including the:
- Discovery and exploration of innovative approaches to protect, support and advance the health and welfare of military personnel, families and communities.
- Acceleration of the transition of medical technologies into deployed products.
- Acceleration of the translation of advances in knowledge into new standards of care for injury prevention, treatment of casualties, rehabilitation and training systems that can be applied in theater or in the clinical facilities of the MHS.
The USAMRMC offices of the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) and the Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC) are involved in program management at various execution milestones.
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The TATRC performs medical reconnaissance and special operations to address critical gaps that are underrepresented in DoD medical research programs. TATRC is an office of the headquarters of the USAMRMC. TATRC fosters research on health informatics, telemedicine/m-Health, medical training systems, and computational biology. It also promotes and manages science and engineering in other key portfolios.
Through an extensive network of partners, TATRC is focused at both ends of the research spectrum, exploring models of high risk and innovative research and putting research findings into the hands of warfighters while looking toward wider civilian utility. TATRC augments core medical research programs through special funding and partnership opportunities.Acoustic trauma was added as a portfolio component under TATRC in 2009 in response to the marked increase in hearing loss, tinnitus and balance disorders among military service members returning from current conflicts. The focus of the portfolio component is to establish a collaborative multidisciplinary effort with scientists, engineers and industry to provide short and long-term solutions for the military. Current areas of focus include hearing/ear blast protection, medical treatment of acoustic trauma, objective measurement of tinnitus, tinnitus treatment, and hearing and vestibular rehabilitation. The portfolio’s key emphasis is on practical solutions to directly benefit the war fighter, but all areas of acoustic trauma that yield benefits to the military, its veterans and beneficiaries are of interest.
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SBIR: The SBIR program was established by Congress in 1982 with a statutory purpose to strengthen the role of innovative small business concerns (SBCs) in federally-funded research or research and development. Specific programs issues small business grants with the purpose to:
- Stimulate technological innovation.
- Use small business to meet federal research and development needs.
- Foster and encourage participation by socially and economically disadvantaged SBCs working in technological innovation endeavors.
- Increase private sector commercialization of innovations derived from federal research and development, thereby increasing competition, productivity and economic growth.
STTR: The STTR program is a sister program to the SBIR program, established by Congress in 1992 to fullfil a similar statutory purpose as SBIR. A major difference in the two programs is that the STTR requires the small business to have a research partner consisting of a university, federally-funded research and development center, or a qualified nonprofit research institution. In STTR, the small business must be the prime contractor and perform at least 40 percent of the work, with the research partner performing at least 30 percent of the work. The remaining balance can be completed by either party and/or a third party.
Further SBIR/STTR programs exist within each Service component. More information on each of these programs can be found following the links below
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JIDA leads DoD actions to rapidly provide counter-Improvised Expolosive Device (IED) capabilities in support of combatant commanders and to enable the defeat of the IED as a weapon of strategic influence.
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The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) of 2003, Section 721, authorizes a DoD/ VA “Health Care Sharing Incentive Fund.” The purpose of the fund is to provide seed money for creative sharing initiatives at facility, regional and national levels to facilitate the mutually-beneficial coordination, use or exchange of health care resources. The ultimate goal is to improve access to, and enhance the quality and cost effectiveness of, health care provided to beneficiaries of both departments. The minimum VA and DoD contributions to the fund for FY 2004 to 2010 were $15 million, totaling $30 million per year. During that time, over 80 initiatives were funded. NDAA 2010 extended the JIF program until September 30, 2015.
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AFOSR manages the basic research investment for the U.S. Air Force. As a part of the AFRL, AFOSR's technical experts foster and fund research within AFRL, universities, and industry laboratories to ensure the transition of research results to support USAF needs.
To accomplish this task, AFOSR solicits proposals for research through various Broad Agency Announcements (BAAs). One or more proposals may be submitted on any topic(s) listed in a BAA. All AFOSR funding opportunities are required to be posted on Grants.gov.
Application forms and instructions are available at Grants.gov. To access these materials, go to www.grants.gov. There, you can search for and apply to opportunities posted by all grant-issuing federal agencies. The opportunity title acts as a clickable link to information on the BAA in question. You can also search Grants.gov by CFDA number. To find AFOSR opportunities, search CDFA numbers 12.800, 12.630 and 12.910.
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The DoD’s RIF, formerly known as the Rapid Innovation Program (RIP), is usually released in the form of a BAA.
The RIF is designed to transition innovative technologies, primarily from small businesses, that resolve DoD operational challenges including joint urgent operation needs.
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The VA ORD seeks to discover knowledge, develop VA researchers and health care leaders, and create innovations that advance health care for our veterans and the nation.
ORD consists of four research services that together form a cohesive whole to explore all phases of veterans' health care needs. Each service oversees a number of renowned research centers nationwide.