Active for applicants with a timely pre-application only. The Defense Health Agency Contracting Activity, through the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs Kidney Cancer Research Program, is administering the DoW Kidney Cancer, Idea Development Award under Funding Opportunity Number HT942526KCRPIDA, Assistance Listing 12.420. The required Letter of Intent deadline has passed, so new applicants cannot enter this FY26 competition.
Funding and deadlines
CDMRP expects to allot approximately $7.8 million to fund about eight awards. The total-cost cap is $900,000 for the single-PI Idea Development Award or $1.2 million for the Partnering PI Option. The maximum period of performance is three years. Cost sharing is not an eligibility requirement.
The pre-application Letter of Intent was due September 14, 2026 at 5:00 PM Eastern Time. Applicants with a successful pre-application may submit the full application by September 28, 2026 at 11:59 PM Eastern Time. The application-verification period ends October 5, 2026 at 5:00 PM ET.
What the program supports
The Idea Development Award supports high-impact research ideas intended to advance understanding of kidney cancer and improve patient outcomes. Projects require a well-formulated testable hypothesis, strong scientific rationale, a developed research approach, preliminary data, and a team with a strong kidney cancer research background. A Partnering PI Option supports meaningful collaboration between an Initiating PI and a Partnering PI. Clinical trials are not allowed.
Eligibility and submission controls
Eligible organizations include domestic and foreign for-profit and nonprofit organizations and public or private entities, as well as eligible intramural Department of War organizations. Investigators at or above the level of Assistant Professor or equivalent may be named PI, Initiating PI, or Partnering PI, subject to the program’s application limits. Awards are made to organizations, not individuals.
Submission is a two-step process requiring the eBRAP pre-application and a full application. Extramural organizations submit full applications through Grants.gov Workspace; eligible intramural Department of War organizations submit through eBRAP. The eBRAP log number assigned at pre-application is required in the full application. CDMRP does not issue invitations for this mechanism, but full applications should be submitted only after successful pre-application submission.
Atlas strategy
Atlas Opportunity Score: 54/100. The award supports substantial kidney cancer research and permits for-profit applicants, but the September 14 mandatory pre-application gate has already closed. Current-cycle support should be limited to teams that can establish timely successful LOI submission.
Direct Dr. Miltie posture: Dr. Miltie is structurally eligible as a for-profit organization, but a new direct FY26 entry is not viable after the pre-application deadline. A legitimate current-cycle path would require an already-pre-applied eligible PI or PI partnership, preliminary data, a responsive kidney cancer research hypothesis and focus area, research infrastructure, and all required federal registrations and submission components.
Next action
Do not begin new applicant outreach for the current cycle. If a pre-applied organization requests assistance, verify the eBRAP pre-application record, PI eligibility, preliminary data, kidney cancer focus area, research design, applicant-specific facts, deduplication, and every full-application component before advancing.
Controlling program announcement: FY26 Kidney Cancer Idea Development Award Program Announcement.
Official eBRAP funding page: FY26 Kidney Cancer Research Program.