The deadline is June 26 for submitting a pre-application to possibly win an orthopedics research grant from the Peer-Reviewed Orthopaedic Research Program (PRORP), a Department of Defense (DOD) research program mandated by Congress.
DOD Has $23.25 Million to Spend on Orthopedic Research Grants
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The deadlines and details of the announcements are far different from those of an earlier DOD announcement of the same program we reported on April 1 (Millions of New DOD Research Dollars for Orthopedics, Orthopedics This Week, April 1, 2019).
Some of that $23.25 million will likely be reserved for overhead, but PRORP grants are being offered in these amounts for three types of orthopedic research other than on spine injuries, which are covered by a separate program.
The Application Process and Deadlines
After pre-application, dates and deadlines for all three programs are:
- Organizations will be chosen by July 29 to submit a final application;
- The deadline for submitting a final application is September 18.
DOD is seeking three kinds of research.
Applied Research: DOD is offering grants of up to $750,000 each for a total program funding of $3.75 million for research in at least one of the following areas of treatment. Selection of the appropriate Focus Area is the responsibility of the applicant. Studies that propose nominal or iterative advancements are not encouraged:
- Compartment Syndrome Models: Diagnostic and/or treatment strategies developed in a large animal model that replicates compartment syndrome. Model system should be clinically relevant and scientifically reproducible.
- Limb Stabilization and Protection: Development of rapid limb stabilization and novel wound protectants for severely wounded limbs to enable transport at the point of need.
- Retention on Duty Strategies: Development and/or optimization of battlefield-feasible diagnostic capabilities, decision support tools, interventions, and/or rehabilitation strategies that can facilitate retention on duty for common combat-related musculoskeletal injuries. (Biomarker studies are excluded.)
- Skin-Implant Interface: Identification of best practices to address infection at the skin-implant interface for osseointegrated prosthetic limbs
Clinical Trials: DOD is offering grants of up to $2.5 million for a total program funding of $13.5 million, for trials in the following areas of treatment.
- Limb Stabilization and Protection: Clinical assessment of rapid limb stabilization and novel wound protectants for severely wounded limbs to enable transport at the point of need.
- Retention on Duty Strategies: Validation of battlefield-feasible diagnostic capabilities, decision support tools, interventions, and/or rehabilitation strategies that can facilitate retention on duty for common combat-related musculoskeletal injuries. (Biomarker studies are excluded.)
- Translation of Early Findings: Translation of early research findings in the orthopedic surgical care topic areas listed below to move the research toward clinical trials and clinical practice.
- Volumetric Muscle Loss: Techniques to regenerate functional, innervated muscle units in treatment of volumetric muscle loss.
- Compartment Syndrome: Treatment strategies to improve current diagnoses for compartment syndrome.
- Soft Tissue Trauma: Strategies to develop and/or identify musculoskeletal extremity soft tissue trauma treatments (for anterior cruciate ligament [ACL] or shoulder instability only) to optimize return to duty, work, or reintegration.
Clinical Translational Research: DOD is offering grants of up to $2 million each for a total program funding of $6 million, for research in the following areas of treatment.
- Retention on Duty Strategies: Development and/or optimization of battlefield-feasible diagnostic capabilities, decision support tools, interventions, and/or rehabilitation strategies that can facilitate retention on duty for common combat-related musculoskeletal injuries. (Biomarker studies are excluded.)
- Tissue Regeneration Therapeutics: Development of advanced tissue regeneration therapeutics in nerve, muscle, and/or composite tissue for the restoration of traumatically injured extremities. (Isolated bone tissue engineering studies are excluded.)
A description of what DOD wants from clinical translational research and how it should differ from clinical trials, are available in the announcement; see page 4 of the announcement at the last URL below.
For full details, see these web pages:
Synopsis of Awards: https://cdmrp.army.mil/funding/pdf/19prorpreftable.pdf
Applied Research Program details: https://cdmrp.army.mil/funding/pa/FY19-PRORP-ARA.pdf and
Clinical Trials details:
Clinical Translational Research details:
React:
Discussion
This is a fascinating development. In my practice we've seen similar outcomes with the revised protocol. The key differentiator seems to be patient selection criteria. Has anyone else noticed the correlation with BMI thresholds?
Great point. I'd push back slightly on the conclusion, the sample size in the cited study is too small to draw population-level inferences. That said, the directional signal is compelling and worth a larger RCT.
We implemented a similar approach last year. Early results are promising but we're still gathering 12-month follow-up data. Happy to share our protocol if anyone is interested.
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