Vision Research Program, Focused Translational Team Science Award | W81XWH 20 VRP FTTSA

Opportunity Information: Apply for W81XWH 20 VRP FTTSA

The Vision Research Program (VRP) Focused Translational Team Science Award (FTTSA), Funding Opportunity Number W81XWH 20 VRP FTTSA, is a Department of Defense research funding opportunity administered by the U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity (USAMRAA). Released on May 20, 2020, with an original application deadline of November 18, 2020, this opportunity sits within the broader federal category of Science and Technology and other Research and Development and is associated with CFDA number 12.420. Funding may be provided through either a cooperative agreement or a grant, which signals that awards could range from standard grant support to more active government involvement in the project in the case of a cooperative agreement.

The core purpose of the FY20 VRP FTTSA is to fund a highly collaborative, team-based translational research initiative focused on eye injuries and visual dysfunction caused by military-relevant traumatic events. The emphasis is on work that can fundamentally advance both understanding and treatment, meaning projects are expected to go beyond basic discovery alone and move toward practical, clinically meaningful outcomes. The traumatic exposures of interest are specifically those relevant to military settings, including blast injuries, blunt trauma, thermal burns, chemical exposures, and directed energy-related trauma. In practical terms, the program is aimed at accelerating progress along the pipeline from mechanistic insights into injury and disease processes to actionable approaches that can improve diagnosis, prevention, mitigation, and/or treatment of vision-related impairments tied to these types of events.

A defining feature of this award mechanism is the expectation of a focused translational team science approach. That typically implies a multi-investigator structure where complementary expertise is brought together under an integrated research plan, rather than a collection of loosely related projects. Teams would generally be expected to coordinate across disciplines such as ophthalmology, neurology, optometry, imaging, regenerative medicine, biomaterials, pharmacology, data science, rehabilitation, and clinical care, as appropriate to the proposed solution. The program description highlights collaboration and translation as central requirements, suggesting that competitive applications would likely present a clear pathway to real-world impact, including measurable milestones, well-defined roles across partners, and a plan for moving findings toward clinical readiness or implementation.

Eligibility is listed as unrestricted, meaning the opportunity is broadly open to a wide range of applicant organizations, subject to any additional eligibility conditions that might be described in the full announcement text. This typically allows participation from academic institutions, nonprofit research organizations, for-profit entities, and other qualified groups, potentially including multi-institutional consortia. The announcement indicates an expectation of one award, which signals a competitive selection process and suggests the program intended to fund a single large, cohesive effort rather than multiple smaller independent projects.

The listing shows an award ceiling of 0, which generally indicates that the maximum funding level was not specified in the summary fields and would need to be confirmed in the full funding announcement or associated program guidance. Even without a stated ceiling, the combination of "focused team science," "translational," and "expected awards: 1" often points toward a substantial, coordinated project with significant scope, where reviewers would look closely at feasibility, integration, and the likelihood of producing meaningful advances for service members and others affected by trauma-related vision problems.

Overall, this opportunity is designed to catalyze a single, tightly coordinated, high-impact translational research team effort aimed at improving outcomes for eye injury and visual dysfunction caused by military-relevant traumatic events, using a funding mechanism that can support either traditional grant management or closer collaboration with the government through a cooperative agreement.

• 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 "Vision Research Program, Focused Translational Team Science 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 20, 2020.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Nov 18, 2020. (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 1 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.

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