DoD Kidney Cancer, Translational Research Partnership Award

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The FY18 KCRP Translational Research Partnership Award mechanism supports partnerships between clinicians and research scientists that will accelerate the movement of promising ideas in kidney cancer toward clinical applications. This award supports the development of translational research collaborations between two independent, faculty-level (or equivalent) investigators to address a central problem or question in kidney cancer in a manner that would be less readily achievable through separate efforts. One partner in the collaboration must be a research scientist and the other must be a clinician. It should be clear that both have had equal intellectual input in the design of the research project. Multi-institutional partnerships are encouraged. At least one member of the partnership must have experience either in kidney cancer research or kidney cancer patient care. Inclusion of experts from outside the kidney cancer field is encouraged. A proposed project in which the clinical partner merely supplies tissue samples or access to patients will not meet the intent of this award mechanism. Observations that drive a research idea may be derived from a laboratory discovery, population-based studies, or a clinician’s firsthand knowledge of patients and anecdotal data. The ultimate goal of translational research is to move a concept or observation forward into clinical application that is relevant to active duty Service members, Veterans, other military beneficiaries, and the American public. However, members of the partnership should not view translational research as a one-way continuum from bench to bedside. The research plan must involve a reciprocal flow of ideas and information between basic and clinical science. There should be an intellectual synergistic partnership between the clinic and the laboratory. The success of the project must be supported by the unique skills and contributions of each partner. The proposed study must include clearly stated plans for interactions between the Principal Investigators (PIs) and institutions involved. The plans must include communication, coordination of research progress and results, and data transfer. Additionally, multi-institutional applications must provide an intellectual property plan to resolve potential intellectual and material property issues and to remove institutional barriers that might interfere with achieving high levels of cooperation to ensure the successful completion of this award. The Translational Research Partnership Award is structured to accommodate two PIs, referred to as the Initiating PI and the Partnering PI, each of whom will receive a separate award. The Initiating and Partnering PIs have different submission requirements; however, both PIs should contribute significantly to the development of the proposed research project including the Project Narrative, Statement of Work, and other required components. It is the responsibility of the PIs to describe how their combined expertise will better address the research question and explain why the work should be done together rather than through separate efforts. Preliminary data to support the feasibility of the research hypothesis and research approaches are required; however, these data do not necessarily need to be derived from studies of kidney cancer. The proposed research must be relevant to active duty Service members, Veterans, military beneficiaries, and/or the American public. The following are significant features of this award mechanism: • Collaboration: The success of the project should depend on the unique skills and contributions of each collaborator. • Translation: The application should provide evidence for the reciprocal transfer of information between basic and clinical science or vice versa in developing and implementing the research plan. Translational research may include correlative studies, development of or use of annotated biorepositories, or translational research. The application should demonstrate how the study will leverage clinical information to address knowledge gaps in resulting outcomes, validate key research findings, and expand upon potentially transformative results, or investigate novel findings. • Impact: The proposed research should indicate the potential to have a significant impact on kidney cancer research and/or patient care and have the potential to accelerate the movement of promising ideas (in prevention, diagnosis, detection, prognosis, treatment, and/or survivorship) into clinical applications. Clinical trials are not allowed. • Preliminary Data Required: The inclusion of preliminary data relevant to the proposed project is required. The anticipated direct costs budgeted for the entire period of performance for an FY18 KCRP Translational Research Partnership Award will not exceed $600,000 . Refer to Section II.D.5, Funding Restrictions, for detailed funding information.

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