Open federal opportunity, but the mandatory pre-application deadline has passed. The Defense Health Agency Contracting Activity, through the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs, is administering the DoW Rare Cancers, Resource and Community Development Award (HT942526RCRPRCDA), Assistance Listing 12.420.
Funding and controlling dates
CDMRP expects approximately $5.6 million in FY26 program funding for approximately five awards. The total-cost cap is $1.12 million per award, with a maximum four-year period of performance. Cost sharing is not required.
The mandatory pre-application/preproposal was due August 19, 2026 at 5:00 PM Eastern Time. Invitations to submit are scheduled for September 30, 2026. Invited full applications are due November 18, 2026 at 11:59 PM Eastern Time.
What the program supports
The award supports development of research resources and clinical or preclinical datasets that advance rare-cancers research and improve outcomes. Proposals should address a major gap such as lack of research or clinical resources, insufficient communication and dissemination across scientific and patient communities, inadequate data/resource-sharing infrastructure, or insufficient therapeutics and mechanistic research resources.
Community building is a core requirement. Applications must document plans for engagement and partnerships with Patient Advocates throughout the life cycle of the research study and describe dissemination and sustainability of the resulting platform for scientific, clinical, and/or patient communities. Preliminary data are not required, although they may be included to demonstrate feasibility.
Eligibility and current-cycle control
The federal listing identifies eligibility as unrestricted, subject to the detailed program-announcement requirements. A qualifying application must be built around a credible rare-cancer resource or community-development plan, appropriate institutional and scientific capabilities, and the required patient-community engagement and sustainability infrastructure.
Current-cycle routing is restricted to teams that completed the mandatory August 19 pre-application and subsequently receive an invitation to submit. Do not initiate new applicant outreach for the FY26 cycle based solely on the November full-application deadline.
Atlas strategy
Atlas Opportunity Score: 93/100. This mechanism is especially attractive for established rare-cancer research networks, registries, biorepositories, data platforms, model-development groups, and patient-connected research communities with a durable resource-sharing mission.
Preferred posture: Partner-Led / Already-Preapplied Rare-Cancer Resource or Community Platform.
Next action
Route only after confirming a timely FY26 pre-application and, when issued, an invitation to submit. Verify the specific rare-cancer resource gap, Patient Advocate engagement plan, dissemination strategy, sustainability plan, data/resource-sharing infrastructure, and all required registrations before applicant-specific execution.
Official federal opportunity: Simpler.Grants.gov.