The vision of the FY18 Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program (PRMRP) is to improve the health and well-being of all military Service members, Veterans, and beneficiaries. The PRMRP challenges the scientific and clinical communities to address at least one of the FY18 PRMRP Topic Areas with original ideas that foster new directions along the entire spectrum of research and clinical care. The program seeks applications in laboratory, clinical, behavioral, epidemiologic, and other areas of research to advance knowledge in disease etiology, improve prevention, detection, diagnosis, treatment, and quality of life for those affected by a relevant disease or condition, and to develop and validate clinical care or public health guidelines.

The PRMRP Focused Program Award mechanism is intended to optimize research and accelerate the solution for a critical question related to at least one of the Congressionally directed FY18 PRMRP Topic Areas through a synergistic, multidisciplinary research program.

All organizations are eligible to apply. This includes government agencies, extramural organizations, and intramural DoD organizations.

Applications must address at least one of the FY18 PRMRP Topic Areas and must be directly relevant to the healthcare needs of military Service members, Veterans, and/or beneficiaries. Example topic areas include acute lung injury, chronic pain management, and endometriosis. A full list of topic areas can be found in the solicitation.

Applications must describe a unifying overarching challenge that will be addressed by a set of research projects. Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit a minimum of four research projects. The research strategy must be supported by a detailed implementation plan with critical milestones. The project must be led by a Principal Investigator (PI) devoting a minimum of 20% effort to this award, who will also be required to present an update on progress toward accomplishing goals at a Milestone Meeting in the Washington, DC area after the end of year 2 of the period of performance.

PIs are strongly encouraged to integrate and/or align their research projects with DoD and/or VA research laboratories and programs. Collaboration with DoD or VA investigators is also encouraged.