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  • Home > Blog > Mesothelioma > DoD Opens 2011 Grant Application Process for Funding of Mesothelioma Research Projects
Posted on Friday, Jul 15, 2011

DoD Opens 2011 Grant Application Process for Funding of Mesothelioma Research Projects

Many mesothelioma researchers have to rely on funding from private organizations and on donations from the general public to keep their projects active and moving forward.  However, in 2008, the United States Department of Defense (DoD), who is responsible for funding and promoting research on diseases related to military service, began awarding mesothelioma grants.  Since then, they have awarded close to $7 million in mesothelioma funding alone.  They announced this week that they will continue to award grants for research in this area, and have now opened the 2011 grant application process.

The Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation has continued to be a staunch advocate for encouraging the government to focus more research dollars on mesothelioma research.  One of their medical liaison’s, Mary Hesdorffer, MS, APRN, testified before the United States Senate Committee on Appropriations- Subcommittee on Defense in June to explain “the need for sustained and increased funding for mesothelioma through the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program, and stressed the strong link between mesothelioma and military service. “ Hesdorffer went so far as to request $5 million to be appropriated specifically for mesothelioma through the grant program.  This testimony was in an effort to influence the 2012 funding cycle.

Veterans account for nearly 30 percent of all cases of mesothelioma, a cancer of the lining of the lung or abdomen, caused by exposure to asbestos.  They have a higher risk of contracting asbestos-related diseases because of the wide use of asbestos in thousands of buildings and Navy ships from World War II until the 1970s.  During World War II, several million people employed in U.S. shipyards and U.S. Navy veterans were exposed to chrysotile asbestos products as well as amosite and crocidolite since these forms of asbestos were used extensively in military ship construction.

The DoD grants are available through the Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program (PRCRP) with a goal to improve quality of life by decreasing the impact of cancer on service members, their families, and the American public. The DoD hopes to encourage work in “groundbreaking, cutting-edge research for the prevention, detection, and treatment of cancer.”

Research project areas eligible for grants are:  blood cancers, colorectal cancer, genetic cancer research, kidney cancer,  listeria vaccine for cancer, melanoma and other skin cancers, mesothelioma, pancreatic cancer, pediatric cancers and radiation protection utilizing nanotechnology.

Further, the PRCRP encourages researchers to explore research in areas such as the analysis of molecular signaling pathways relevant to the progression of cancers, biomarkers of resistance and/or sensitivity to standard chemotherapies and approved target agents, and identification of populations at higher risk of developing cancers due to exposure(s) to militarily relevant environmental or chemical carcinogens based on genetic polymorphisms.

Application submission deadline is November 22, 2011, with an anticipation of awarding the grants no later than September 30, 2012.  Those awarded a grant will receive funding for a maximum period of 3 years and for $240,000 in indirect costs.