Department of Defense Directs Additional $5 Million to Establish New ALS Research Program; Funding Opportunities Available


The Advocacy Department is pleased to announce that the Department of Defense (DOD) has established the first-ever "Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Research Program," (ALSRP) and has directed $5 million to fund the program in FY 2007 in addition to other ALS funding already supported by DOD. Awards provided through the ALSRP will be used exclusively to promote ALS research and the development of new treatments for the disease. To that end, DOD has issued a Request for Proposals soliciting applications for one to three Therapeutic Development Awards for ALS research (see below). We encourage you to share this new funding opportunity with researchers in your local community today as the pre-application submission deadline is November 7, 2007.

The ALSRP represents a new source of ALS research funding at the DOD and comes in addition to funding The Association has helped to secure for Gulf War research as well as for ALS research at DOD's Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program and the Neurotoxin Exposure Treatment Research Program. Those programs, combined with funding from the Department of Veterans Affairs, have provided more than $20 million for ALS research over the past five years.

The ALS Association also has worked with Congress to request that DOD not only expand its commitment to ALS research, but also more effectively direct ALS research within the Department. At this year's National ALS Advocacy Day in May, The ALS Association helped to craft a letter to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates that urged the DOD to coordinate ALS research efforts and to increase funding for ALS research. The letter stated that while existing programs have helped to advance ALS research, Congress believes that "the Department should consider establishing a more focused and coordinated approach to studying ALS so that it can effectively direct ALS research initiatives." The letter was signed by more than 85 Members of Congress.

The Advocacy Department is partnering with The Association's Research Department to inform the ALS community about the additional opportunities that are available through the ALSRP. Importantly, these opportunities not only will benefit military veterans who are at greater risk of ALS, but also the entire ALS community who stand to benefit from any advances that result from this new funding source.

Request for Proposals: Funding Available for ALSRP Therapeutic Development Award

The Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP) at the Department of Defense is accepting applications for the first ALSRP Therapeutic Development Award. The CDMRP expects to fund approximately 1-3 Therapeutic Development Award proposals. The pre-application submission deadline is 5:00 pm Eastern time, November 7, 2007.

The ALSRP Therapeutic Development Award supports the preclinical assessment of therapeutics for ALS. The overall goal of this award mechanism is to promote the introduction of improved therapies for ALS by encouraging ALS investigators to undertake preclinical studies of novel and existing agents. The Therapeutic Development Award is restricted to research in ALS. The proposed studies are expected to be empirical in nature and product-driven, but they may have a hypothesis-driven approach provided the focus is on therapeutics. It is anticipated that the agents, and/or data generated from these awards will lead to the advancement of therapeutics for ALS.

Additional information about this funding opportunity is available here (http://cdmrp.army.mil/funding/alsrp.htm). Please share this information with researchers in your community so that they can take advantage of this new funding opportunity.

If you have any questions or would like additional information, please contact Pat Wildman in the Advocacy Department at pwildman@alsa-national.org.