DoD Autism Clinical Trial Award | W81XWH 19 ARP CTA

Opportunity Information: Apply for W81XWH 19 ARP CTA

The Department of Defense (DoD), through the U.S. Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity (USAMRAA), offered the Autism Research Program (ARP) Clinical Trial Award as a discretionary funding opportunity focused specifically on autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The core purpose of this award is to support clinical research that has a strong chance of producing a major, real-world impact on the treatment or management of ASD. In practical terms, the program is looking for studies that go beyond incremental findings and instead aim to generate evidence that could meaningfully improve clinical care, patient outcomes, or how ASD-related challenges are managed in healthcare settings.

A defining requirement of this opportunity is that award funds must be used to conduct a clinical trial. This mechanism is not intended for preclinical work, meaning projects centered on animal studies, basic laboratory experiments, or other non-human/non-clinical development activities are not allowable under this award. The clinical trial expectation signals that applicants need to propose a human-subjects study designed to evaluate an intervention, approach, or strategy relevant to ASD treatment or management, with a structured plan for implementation, participant recruitment, oversight, and outcome measurement.

The timeline expectations are also explicit and fairly aggressive. The DoD expects the proposed clinical trial to begin no later than 12 months after the award date. For studies that are regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a longer ramp-up period is allowed, with the trial expected to begin no later than 18 months after the award date. This requirement emphasizes readiness and feasibility: applicants must demonstrate that planning, approvals, contracting, site coordination, and other startup activities can be completed quickly enough to meet these launch deadlines.

Administratively, the opportunity was released under Funding Opportunity Number W81XWH 19 ARP CTA and categorized as a science and technology / research and development funding program (CFDA 12.420). The DoD indicated that awards could be made either as grants or as cooperative agreements, which generally means the government may have the option for more substantial involvement in project oversight or coordination depending on the selected instrument. Eligibility was listed as unrestricted, meaning the competition was broadly open to many entity types (for example, academic institutions, nonprofits, companies, or other organizations), subject to any additional eligibility clarifications that may have been provided in the full announcement text.

Key dates and scale indicators include a creation date of March 18, 2019, and an original application closing date of August 8, 2019. The announcement projected approximately two awards. The listed award ceiling was shown as 0, which typically indicates that a specific maximum funding cap was not stated in the summarized data field and would need to be confirmed in the full funding announcement or accompanying program guidance. Overall, this opportunity is best understood as a targeted DoD investment in well-prepared, high-impact ASD clinical trials with clear clinical relevance, strong execution plans, and the ability to initiate the trial within a defined post-award timeframe.

• 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 Clinical Trial 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 18, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 08, 2019. (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 2 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 W81XWH 19 ARP CTA

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