DoD Autism, Career Development Award | HT9425 23 ARP CDA

Opportunity Information: Apply for HT9425 23 ARP CDA

The DoD Autism Research Program (ARP) Career Development Award (FY23) is a Department of Defense funding opportunity designed to help build and diversify the pool of researchers working on autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It specifically targets early-career investigators who are already independent and need support to launch or strengthen an ASD-focused research direction, as well as established investigators who are shifting into ASD research from other scientific or clinical fields. The intent is to create a pathway for newer or newly ASD-focused investigators to compete in a space that is often dominated by long-established autism research programs, while still maintaining a clear expectation of scientific rigor and relevance to real ASD needs.

The research scope emphasizes innovation and impact, with a particular interest in high-impact ideas and early-stage work that can quickly test feasibility and signal whether a new approach is worth expanding. That includes early-phase, proof-of-principle clinical trials, meaning studies that are not necessarily large, definitive trials but are designed to generate credible preliminary evidence about whether an intervention, approach, or concept is workable and potentially meaningful for ASD. Projects are expected to be positioned to make a major contribution to the ASD field, either by addressing a key unanswered question or by exploring an approach with the potential to shift current understanding or practice.

Applicants are strongly encouraged to align their proposals with the program's stated FY23 Career Development Award Areas of Interest. If a proposal does not fit neatly into one of those areas, the application should clearly justify why the work still targets a critical ASD problem, question, or unmet need. In other words, alignment is preferred, but the program allows flexibility when the case for ASD relevance and importance is compelling and well argued.

A notable feature of this opportunity is that prior ASD research experience is allowed but not required. This is meant to broaden participation and bring in strong investigators from adjacent domains who may have methods, perspectives, or technologies that can be applied to autism research. At the same time, the program recognizes the learning curve and domain-specific complexities of ASD research. For applications where the Principal Investigator has limited ASD background, the ARP strongly encourages building collaborations with researchers who do have ASD expertise or other clearly relevant skills. This collaborative expectation is essentially a way to strengthen scientific grounding, ensure appropriate ASD context, and reduce avoidable design or interpretation pitfalls.

Administratively, the opportunity is offered by the Department of Defense (Department of the Army, U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity, USAMRAA). The funding instrument types include both grants and cooperative agreements, which generally means that some awards may involve more active involvement or coordination with the funding agency than a standard grant, depending on the specific terms. The program falls under the Science and Technology and other Research and Development category and is listed under CFDA 12.420. Eligibility is described as unrestricted, meaning it is broadly open to many entity types, though applicants would still need to confirm any additional eligibility language contained in the full announcement.

For FY23, the opportunity number is HT9425 23 ARP CDA. The posting date in the source data is March 3, 2023, with an original closing date of July 20, 2023. The expected number of awards is listed as three. The award ceiling is shown as 0 in the source data, which typically indicates the ceiling was not specified in that particular summary field and would need to be verified in the full funding announcement or related guidance.

Overall, this Career Development Award is structured to accelerate promising ASD research trajectories, particularly those led by investigators who are early in their independent careers or who are bringing fresh expertise into autism research. The program encourages bold, testable ideas and early clinical evaluation work, while also signaling that applications should be anchored in clear ASD significance and, when needed, reinforced through collaboration with established ASD experts.

• 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 "DoD Autism, Career Development 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 Mar 03, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jul 20, 2023. (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 HT9425 23 ARP CDA

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