DoD Kidney Cancer, Academy of Kidney Cancer Investigators – Leadership Award | HT942524KCRPAKCILA

FAQs: DoD KCRP Academy of Kidney Cancer Investigators (AKCI) Leadership Award (FY24)

1) What is the AKCI Leadership Award?

The AKCI Leadership Award is a Department of Defense Kidney Cancer Research Program (KCRP) funding opportunity to select and support the next leadership team for the Academy of Kidney Cancer Investigators (AKCI). The award focuses on operating and strengthening a virtual career development academy for early-career kidney cancer scientists and clinician-researchers, while also requiring collaborative pilot research that directly involves academy scholars.

2) Is this award meant to fund a single investigator-initiated research project?

No. This opportunity is not aimed at funding an individual investigator project in the traditional sense. It is soliciting applications to select the next AKCI leadership team, who will run the academy and conduct collaborative pilot project(s) that include AKCI scholars.

3) Who are the key leadership roles being solicited?

The application must propose two leaders: an Academy Director (the Initiating Principal Investigator) and a Deputy Director (the Partnering Principal Investigator).

4) Can the Academy Director and Deputy Director be at different institutions?

Yes. The two leaders may be based at different institutions.

5) When must the selected leaders begin their responsibilities?

The Academy Director and Deputy Director are expected to begin their responsibilities no later than October 2025.

6) What experience is expected of the Academy Director and Deputy Director?

Both leaders are expected to be established kidney cancer researchers with a strong, proven record of mentoring and developing early-career investigators. They also need to clearly describe how they will drive collaboration, evaluate scholar progress, and maintain a high-functioning academy community.

7) Is administrative oversight alone sufficient to meet the intent of the award?

No. The program emphasizes that both PIs must be substantively involved with scholars and mentors. Simply providing administrative oversight does not meet the intent.

8) How are awards and reporting handled for the two PIs?

Each PI will receive a separate award to their organization if funded, with separate reporting and administrative requirements. At the same time, the application must show equal and meaningful input from both leaders and clearly define their complementary roles.

9) What are the core responsibilities of the AKCI leadership team?

The leadership team is responsible for operating AKCI as a structured, interactive, and collaborative training platform over the scholars four-year periods of performance. Key duties include being a resource to scholars and mentors, facilitating regular communication and collaboration, creating assessment criteria for research and career progression, providing constructive critique to strengthen research and mentoring relationships, and expanding scholars visibility and professional opportunities in the broader kidney cancer ecosystem.

10) Are leaders required to conduct research as part of this award?

Yes. A distinctive requirement is that academy leaders must conduct collaborative kidney cancer pilot project(s) that directly include academy scholars. These pilot efforts are intended to catalyze collaboration within AKCI and should have credible potential to impact kidney cancer research and/or benefit patients and survivors.

11) What kinds of pilot projects are described as examples?

Examples include extended statistical or bioinformatics analyses performed with scholars, large-scale meta-analyses across human or animal datasets, or providing access to critical biorepositories or animal models that increase rigor and expand what scholars can test.

12) What convening and workshop requirements are included?

The leadership must plan and host an annual one-day workshop and a biennial multi-day workshop where scholar-mentor pairs and academy graduates present research, exchange knowledge, and intentionally develop collaborations.

13) Who pays for scholar travel to in-person meetings?

Scholars are expected to cover their own travel costs for in-person meetings.

14) What stakeholder engagement structures are required?

The leadership team must establish a Patient Advocacy Panel that includes patient advocates and Veteran(s), and must also establish a Designated Mentor Panel to help drive collaboration across mentors, scholars, and academy leadership.

15) How does this award connect AKCI with other KCRP-supported training pipelines?

The leadership team is expected to identify and offer opportunities for AKCI scholars and mentors to engage with KCRP Postdoctoral and Clinical Fellowship Awardees (including FY24 awardees and future cohorts). At minimum, FY24 Postdoctoral and Clinical Fellowship Awardees must be included in at least one meeting of the FY24 AKCI. The leadership team is also expected to create recurring engagement opportunities, such as invitations to seminar series and in-person meetings.

16) Who covers travel for KCRP Postdoctoral and Clinical Fellowship Awardees attending an AKCI meeting?

Those fellowship investigators are expected to pay their own travel using funds built into their fellowship awards.

17) Are clinical trials allowed under this funding opportunity?

No. Clinical trials are not allowed under this funding opportunity, using the federal definition (prospective assignment to an intervention to measure its effects on health-related outcomes).

18) Is any type of clinical research allowed?

Yes. Observational clinical research is allowed, including studies using human data or specimens, diagnostic or detection research (including biomarker or imaging work), epidemiology, outcomes research, health services research, and related efforts, as long as they do not evaluate an intervention for safety or efficacy in a prospective trial framework.

19) Is an oral presentation required as part of the application review?

Yes. Applicants must complete an invited oral presentation as part of the review process, as described in the full program instructions.

20) Are there specific mentor-related eligibility restrictions?

Yes. Ineligibility is specifically called out for certain Designated Mentors: Designated Mentors on FY24 AKCI Early-Career Scholar applications, and Designated Mentors on open FY19 through FY23 AKCI Early-Career Scholar awards (except those graduating in 2024), cannot apply for this leadership award.

21) What type of award mechanism will be used?

Awards will be issued as cooperative agreements, meaning the DoD CDMRP expects substantial programmatic involvement during the performance period.

22) What does substantial programmatic involvement by DoD CDMRP mean in this context?

The announcement indicates this involvement can include participation in a Steering Committee and recommendations regarding continued funding based on progress, cooperation, accrual where applicable (such as data or patient/data resources), and research quality, along with compliance and reporting.

23) What is the funding cap for this leadership award effort?

The anticipated combined direct costs for the full period of performance are capped at $1,500,000 for the leadership award effort as a whole.

24) How many awards does the program expect to make?

The program expects to fund about one leadership team (one Initiating PI plus one Partnering PI), contingent on federal funding availability and the outcomes of peer and programmatic review.

25) What is the estimated total program allotment for this opportunity?

The estimated total program allotment is around $2.4 million to support that single application package, contingent on federal funding availability and review outcomes.

26) What is the listed closing date for the opportunity?

The original closing date listed is September 19, 2024.

27) When are awards expected to be made?

Awards are expected to be made no later than September 30, 2025.

28) What broader CDMRP emphasis areas are applicants encouraged to align with (when relevant)?

When relevant to the proposed approach and consistent with KCRP priorities, applicants are encouraged to align with emphasis areas such as nuclear medicine innovations for improved diagnosis and targeted treatment, womens health and sex as a biological variable, recommendations from the Metastatic Cancer Task Force for accelerating translational impact in advanced and recurrent disease, and rigorous study design principles that improve reproducibility (randomization, blinding, sample-size estimation, and transparent data handling).

29) Does the opportunity encourage military or VA involvement?

Yes. The announcement strongly encourages military service involvement and collaborations spanning academia, industry, military, VA, and other federal partners, especially when partnerships provide unique resources, infrastructure, or access to populations relevant to Service Members, Veterans, and their families.

30) What is the overall purpose of AKCI as described in the opportunity?

AKCI was launched in FY19 to build national research capacity in kidney cancer by pairing junior faculty Early-Career Scholars with experienced Designated Mentors in a structured environment for intensive mentoring, networking, collaboration, and professional growth. The goal is to help early-career investigators become independent, highly productive kidney cancer researchers and to increase collaboration across institutions and disciplines.