DoD Peer Reviewed Orthopaedic, Women's Health Research Award | HT942524PRORPWHRA

FAQs: DoD PRORP Women's Health Research Award (WHRA) (FY24)

What is the PRORP Women's Health Research Award (WHRA)?

The WHRA is an FY24 funding opportunity under the DoD Peer Reviewed Orthopaedic Research Program (PRORP). It was released in direct support of Executive Order 14120 on Advancing Women's Health Research and Innovation. The award is focused on building better evidence and practical solutions for orthopaedic problems affecting women in military environments, especially women in physically demanding roles who experience major orthopaedic injuries.

What is the main purpose of this award?

The core purpose is to improve understanding and develop practical solutions related to serious orthopaedic injuries affecting women in military settings. The broader goal goes beyond treating an injury in isolation and instead focuses on factors that influence readiness, long-term health, and retention of women in military service, while producing findings that can also be broadly relevant to anyone recovering from serious orthopaedic injury.

Who is this opportunity trying to help or impact?

The opportunity is centered on female Service Members and/or Veterans dealing with orthopaedic injury, with particular emphasis on women in physically demanding military occupations (including infantry and similar roles). The program also aims for results that remain relevant to broader populations recovering from major orthopaedic injuries.

Is military relevance required even if the study is not conducted in the military?

Yes. A strong application is expected to make a clear, explicit case for military relevance. Even though it is not strictly required to use military participants, military datasets, or military biospecimens, proposals using civilian cohorts or non-military data should clearly connect the research question, outcomes, and expected impact to the realities faced by female Service Members and/or Veterans after orthopaedic injury.

Do projects have to use military participants, military datasets, or military biospecimens?

No. The WHRA does not strictly require military participants, datasets, or biospecimens. However, the application is expected to clearly explain how the work remains relevant to female Service Members and/or Veterans, particularly in terms of readiness, long-term health, and retention after injury.

What kinds of research does WHRA support?

The WHRA is intentionally broad. It welcomes translational and clinical research and is also open to qualitative studies, population science, outcomes research, and health care services research, as long as the work is designed to improve understanding of how orthopaedic injuries affect female Service Members.

Does the solicitation encourage certain populations for clinical research?

Yes. For clinical research, the program strongly encourages inclusion of female military and/or Veteran populations. If a clinical study is conducted in non-military or non-Veteran populations, applicants are expected to justify why the results should still matter for military and Veteran communities and to provide practical study-design details such as recruitment strategies and how appropriate participant groups will be accessed.

Is the research expected to be hypothesis-driven?

Yes. The solicitation emphasizes that the project should be hypothesis-driven, with a well-formed, testable hypothesis grounded in solid scientific rationale and logical reasoning.

Are clinical trials allowed under the WHRA?

No. WHRA funds cannot be used to conduct clinical trials.

What type of human subjects research is allowed?

Research involving human subjects, human datasets, and human anatomical substances is allowed when the study is observational and does not prospectively assign participants to an intervention to evaluate intervention-related outcomes. The opportunity distinguishes allowed clinical research from disallowed clinical trials as defined under 45 CFR 46.102.

Where should applicants look if they want to conduct a clinical trial instead?

Applicants who want to run a clinical trial are directed to the separate FY24 PRORP Clinical Trial Award (HT942524PRORPCTA).

What examples of clinical research are described as allowed (as long as it is not a clinical trial)?

The opportunity notes that allowed clinical research can include studies of disease mechanisms, diagnostic or biomarker work, imaging studies, health disparity research, certain technology development, epidemiologic and behavioral studies, and outcomes or health services research, provided the work does not prospectively assign participants to an intervention to evaluate intervention-related outcomes.

How does WHRA define the boundary between clinical research and a clinical trial?

The solicitation states that disallowed clinical trials are those that meet the clinical trial definition under 45 CFR 46.102, and it allows observational human research that does not prospectively assign participants to an intervention to evaluate intervention-related outcomes.

What does the program expect regarding rigor and reproducibility?

The WHRA places heavy emphasis on rigor and reproducibility. Projects are expected to follow recognized best practices for design and reporting, reflecting principles such as randomization, blinding, sample-size estimation, and transparent data handling.

Are there special requirements for animal model proposals?

Yes. If a proposal uses animal models, an Animal Research Plan (Attachment 7) is required. Applicants are directed to use standards consistent with Landis et al. guidance on transparent reporting and ARRIVE guidelines 2.0 to support reproducibility and translation.

Is collaboration encouraged?

Yes. Collaboration is encouraged, including partnerships connecting academia, industry, the military services, the VA, and other federal agencies. These collaborations are viewed as a way to improve feasibility and impact by leveraging specialized infrastructure, expertise, and access to unique clinical populations or databases.

If a project depends on special resources or datasets, what does the application need to show?

If the project depends on special resources or datasets, the application is expected to document access at the time of submission and describe how access will be maintained throughout the project period.

What is the award mechanism and administering agency?

Awards will be made as grants under 31 USC 6304. The administering agency is the Department of the Army, USAMRAA, under CFDA 12.420.

Who is eligible to apply?

Eligibility is listed as unrestricted.

What is the maximum budget per award?

The total budget for the full period of performance is expected not to exceed $1.5 million per award.

How much total funding is expected, and how many awards might be made?

The DoD anticipates allocating about $3.0 million total to fund roughly two awards. Actual funding depends on federal funds availability, the number of submissions, and peer and programmatic review outcomes.

What is the application closing date?

The opportunity closing date is September 17, 2024.

When are awards expected to be made?

Awards supported with FY24 funds are expected to be made no later than September 30, 2025.

How long are FY24 funds available for use?

FY24 funds are available for use until they expire on September 30, 2030.

Is arthritis research allowed under WHRA?

The WHRA may not fund arthritis research itself because an Arthritis Research Program has been initiated. However, WHRA can support research on conditions or health abnormalities related to arthritis if the proposal remains centered on the WHRA main purpose: orthopaedic injuries in women, with clear relevance to women serving in military settings and downstream effects on health and retention.

If a project touches arthritis-related issues, what should the proposal emphasize?

It should remain centered on orthopaedic injuries in women, clearly tie the work to women serving in military environments, and explain downstream effects on health and retention, while positioning any arthritis-related elements as related conditions or abnormalities rather than arthritis research as the primary focus.