Neurotoxin Exposure Treatment Parkinson’s, Investigator- Initiated Research Award | W81XWH 21 NETP IIRA

Opportunity Information: Apply for W81XWH 21 NETP IIRA

The Neurotoxin Exposure Treatment Parkinson's (NETP) Investigator-Initiated Research Award (IIRA) is a discretionary funding opportunity from the Department of Defense, Department of the Army, administered through USAMRAA, aimed at advancing research on Parkinson's disease in the specific context of neurotoxin exposure and treatment-related Parkinson's. The intent is to fund highly rigorous, multidisciplinary, and high-impact projects that can meaningfully move the field forward, whether by clarifying mechanisms of disease linked to toxic exposures, improving detection and characterization of exposure-related Parkinsonian conditions, or developing and evaluating strategies that could prevent, mitigate, or treat Parkinson's associated with these exposure pathways.

This mechanism is designed to support the full research spectrum, which means proposals can range from foundational basic science (for example, mechanistic studies of how particular neurotoxins affect dopaminergic neurons, neuroinflammation, mitochondrial function, protein aggregation, or other relevant pathways) through translational work and into clinical research. In practical terms, the program is signaling that it is open to well-justified studies at different stages of maturity, including preclinical model development and validation, biomarker discovery, exposure assessment methods, therapeutic target identification, and clinical or clinical-adjacent studies that test interventions or evaluate clinically meaningful outcomes in affected populations. The emphasis on multidisciplinary work suggests that competitive projects are likely to integrate expertise across fields such as neuroscience, toxicology, epidemiology, neurology, biostatistics, exposure science, and potentially data science or systems biology, depending on the research approach.

The award is identified by Funding Opportunity Number W81XWH-21-NETP-IIRA and is offered through two possible funding instruments: grants and cooperative agreements. That means some awards may be administered with a more traditional grant structure, while others may involve substantial agency involvement typical of cooperative agreements, depending on the nature and needs of the project. The program is categorized under Science and Technology and other Research and Development, and is associated with CFDA (Assistance Listing) number 12.420, which commonly covers DoD medical research-related assistance.

Eligibility is described as unrestricted, open to any type of entity, subject to any additional eligibility clarifications included in the full announcement text. In general, this phrasing typically indicates a broad applicant pool that may include academic institutions, nonprofit research organizations, for-profit entities, and other eligible organizations, with the exact boundaries determined by the detailed eligibility section of the solicitation.

Key administrative details include an original posting/creation date of May 27, 2021, and an original closing date of September 29, 2021. The opportunity listed an expected three awards. The award ceiling is shown as 0, which usually indicates that the maximum award amount is not specified in the summarized record and would need to be confirmed in the full funding announcement or associated program guidance. Overall, the NETP IIRA is positioned as a competitive research award intended to drive substantive advances in understanding and treating Parkinson's disease when neurotoxin exposure or treatment-related factors are central to the disease risk, progression, or clinical presentation.

• The Department of Defense, Dept. of the Army -- USAMRAA in the science and technology and other research and development sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Neurotoxin Exposure Treatment Parkinson’s, Investigator- Initiated Research 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 May 27, 2021.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Sep 29, 2021. (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 3 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: Unrestricted (i.e., open to any type of entity above), subject to any clarification in text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility.

Apply for W81XWH 21 NETP IIRA

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