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Simpler Grants

No. HT942526PRCRPIA · Defense Health Agency Contracting Activity - DHACA

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DoW Peer Reviewed Cancer, Idea Award

grants.gov listing Full announcement (NOFO)
Dealbreakers No cost share required Audit: not stated Reimbursement-only: not stated
Award range
Not specified
Expected awards
~30
Application deadline
Oct 5, 2026
Posted
May 6, 2026
Last verified
7 days ago

At a glance

AI summary

The FY26 Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program Idea Award funds innovative, high-risk cancer research with strong scientific rationale, and preliminary data are not required. Eligible applicants include extramural and intramural U.S. Department of Defense organizations, as well as foreign and domestic for-profit and nonprofit organizations and public or private entities; awards are made to eligible organizations, not individuals. The program expects to fund about 30 standard Idea Awards and about 15 Early Career Investigator Option awards, with a total cost cap of $600,000 per award and a maximum project period of 2 years. Cost sharing is not required. Applications must focus on one of the listed FY26 cancer topic areas and cannot address melanoma or cancers originating in the breast, kidney, lung, pancreas, prostate, or ovary.

AI-generated summary — verify against the announcement

What it funds

  • Science and Technology and other Research and Development
  • Research & Discovery
  • Patients & People with Health Conditions
  • Veterans, Military & Public-Safety Personnel
  • Biomedical & Disease Research
Official description from grants.gov

Summary: The fiscal year 2026 (FY26) Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program (PRCRP) Idea Award (IA) supports innovative, untested, high-risk/potentially high-reward concepts, theories, paradigms, and/or basic cancer research. The advancement of knowledge in cancer research, patient care, and/or treatment options in the Military Health System (MHS) is critical to Service Members, Veterans, other military beneficiaries and the American public. Distinctive Features: The proposed project should demonstrate creative thinking and innovation. • Incremental advances, the next logical step, or switching a model system from one cancer to another cancer are not appropriate for this award. • Inclusion of preliminary data is not required; however, the project must be based on strong scientific rationale. • New for FY26: Early Career Investigator Option: The Early Career Investigator option is designed to support the continued development of promising independent investigators that are early in their faculty appointments.

Who can apply

  • Unrestricted
Geographic restriction None found in the announcement — likely nationwide

Program history

USASpending.gov

Assistance listing 12.420 · Military Medical Research and Development

Real awards this federal program has made — the whole assistance listing (12.420), not just this notice.

Fiscal year Awards Median award Middle half
FY 2026 (so far) 374 $934,195 $559,998 – $1,477,811
FY 2025 967 $796,174 $416,995 – $1,480,602
FY 2024 1,097 — —
FY 2023 1,115 — —
FY 2022 1,186 — —
FY 2021 1,023 — —

Dollar figures are based on the 1,000 most recent awards we store, not all 5,762 — award counts are complete.

Who wins it Business (127), Nonprofit (34), Higher education (2) of 5,762 awards — categories can overlap.
Top states CA (135) · TX (103) · NY (99) · MA (74) · MD (38)
Largest recent awards
  1. THE UNIVERISTY OF TEXAS M.D. ANDERSON CANCER CENTER $19,100,256 · FY 2025
  2. H. LEE MOFFITT CANCER CENTER AND RESEARCH INSTITUTE HOSPITAL, INC. $18,696,738 · FY 2025
  3. UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY RESEARCH FOUNDATION, THE $10,606,583 · FY 2025
  4. SLOAN-KETTERING INSTITUTE FOR CANCER RESEARCH $10,500,000 · FY 2026
  5. UNIVERSITY OF VERMONT & STATE AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE $8,491,997 · FY 2025

Source: USASpending.gov · refreshed Aug 25, 2026