DoD, Breast Cancer, Transformative Breast Cancer Consortium Award | W81XWH 20 BCRP TBCCA

Transformative Breast Cancer Consortium Award (TBCCA) - FAQs

What is the TBCCA funding opportunity?

The DoD Breast Cancer Research Program (BCRP) Transformative Breast Cancer Consortium Award (TBCCA) is a Department of Defense (USAMRAA) funding opportunity intended to support one highly integrated, multi-institutional research consortium designed to make genuinely transformative progress toward ending breast cancer.

What does "transformative" mean in this solicitation?

"Transformative" is framed as transformation in peoples lives, not transformation of the healthcare or research system itself. The goal is paradigm-shifting progress that can change real outcomes for people who have breast cancer or who are at risk for it, rather than incremental advances or upgrades to existing workflows, tools, or infrastructure.

How many awards are expected to be made?

The opportunity lists an expected number of awards of one, indicating a single flagship-style consortium will be supported.

Is this award meant for a single lab or investigator?

No. The mechanism requires a consortium structure. It is not intended for a single lab, a single Principal Investigator working alone, or a loose collaboration where projects can proceed independently.

What is the required consortium structure?

Applicants are expected to assemble at least four and no more than five research teams. Each team must be led by its own Principal Investigator (PI). All teams operate under a single Consortium Director and must be tightly aligned to one central hypothesis.

Do the research teams have to be at different institutions?

The consortium must be meaningfully multi-institutional. A specific structural limit applies: no more than two teams may be based at any one institution.

Do teams submit independent sub-awards or standalone projects?

No. Each team must pursue a distinct project, but the projects are not intended to function as standalone sub-awards. They are expected to be interdependent, designed so each component contributes to testing and advancing the same overarching central hypothesis.

How important is a single central hypothesis?

It is central to the design of the mechanism. The consortium is expected to be built around one central hypothesis that unifies the teams and creates real interdependence and synergy across the projects.

How is this different from an NCI SPORE or a program project-style application?

The solicitation explicitly positions TBCCA as different from, and not meant to duplicate, large existing collaborative models such as NCI SPOREs or program project-like collections of related subprojects. The intent is not an umbrella of thematically similar projects, nor a repackaged SPORE-like structure, but an integrated consortium where the major problem cannot realistically be solved by one investigator or one group working in isolation.

What kinds of applications are likely to be favored in review?

Applications that demonstrate genuine synergy across disciplines and institutions are preferred, especially where the research question is so complex or cross-cutting that it cannot realistically be solved by a single team working alone. High-risk, high-reward innovation is emphasized.

Does the opportunity support high-risk, high-reward research?

Yes. The scientific emphasis favors high-risk, high-reward innovation and encourages new paradigms rather than incremental improvements.

Are "seed projects" allowed during the award period?

Yes. The award includes support for seed projects during the performance period to pursue brand new concepts that emerge from the consortium's work.

What is meant by an "ecologic approach" in this context?

The solicitation encourages an ecologic approach that accounts for the complexity of breast cancer by integrating multiple interacting perspectives. The emphasis is on combining disciplines and viewpoints into one coherent plan rather than focusing narrowly on a single dimension of the disease.

Do applicants need to address a specific challenge area?

Applicants are encouraged to address one of the FY20 BCRP Overarching Challenges, the intersection of multiple challenges, or another comparably mission-aligned fundamental problem if they can justify that it matches the intent of the mechanism and meaningfully advances the goal of ending breast cancer.

Can the consortium propose a different fundamental problem not listed as an Overarching Challenge?

Yes, as long as the problem is comparably mission-aligned and the application justifies how it matches the mechanism's intent and meaningfully advances the goal of ending breast cancer.

What types of approaches are signaled as unlikely to fit the "transformative" intent if they are the main thrust?

The solicitation identifies several areas as unlikely to meet the transformative intent when they are the central hypothesis or primary focus, including: drug screening efforts, testing therapeutic "cocktails," targeting a single gene or protein, creating a new formulation or derivative of an old drug, performing genomic landscape mapping analyses, or simply improving existing screening or imaging technologies (such as mammography or MRI).

Are those out-of-scope activities completely disallowed?

The solicitation notes that these activities are not inherently unimportant, but they are generally viewed as conventional or incremental approaches. If they are the main thrust of the proposal, they are unlikely to match the mechanism's transformative, paradigm-shifting intent.

Is the focus on improving the healthcare or research system an acceptable definition of "transformation"?

No. A key point shaping the opportunity is that transformation is expected in peoples lives, rather than being centered on upgrading the healthcare or research system itself.

Who is eligible to apply?

Eligibility is described as broadly open to entities that meet the opportunity requirements.

What funding instrument will be used?

The funding instrument can be a grant or a cooperative agreement.

Can clinicians and consumer advocates be part of the consortium?

Yes. The opportunity explicitly allows multidisciplinary teams that can include leading scientists, clinicians, and consumer advocates, reflecting an emphasis on integrating end-user and lived-experience perspectives alongside technical expertise.

Are industry collaborations allowed?

Yes. Industry collaborations (pharmaceutical or biotechnology) may be included when appropriate.

Can Phase I clinical trials be included?

Yes. Phase I clinical trials may be included when appropriate.

Is a clinical trial required for this award?

No. A clinical trial is not required, and the application should not be primarily a clinical trial proposal.

How selective is this opportunity?

It is intended to be highly selective. The solicitation lists an expected number of awards of one and describes the award as supporting a single, highly integrated consortium capable of transformative progress.

What is the strongest overall fit for the TBCCA mechanism?

The strongest fit is a proposal that takes a deep, definitive dive into a major unanswered question, including questions that may not have been asked or answered before in the way the consortium proposes to attempt, and that does so through tightly interdependent, multi-institutional collaboration built around a single central hypothesis.