The Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs office was invited to make presentations about cancer research funding at the American Association for Cancer Research at the Washington, D.C. Convention Center April 19.

The AACR Annual Meeting, the premier scientific meeting in cancer research, attracts over 17,000 attendees each year and covers the breadth of cancer science from basic through clinical and epidemiological research.

Last year, CDMRP was invited and their presence was such a success that this year, it was a standing room only event and the AACR organizers gave CDMRP a whooping 2-hour time frame to cover their information.

"Every year each cancer related program at the CDMRP seeks to find approaches to improve the prevention, diagnosis, and treatments of a variety of cancers." said Navy Captain E. Melissa Kaime, M.D., director of CDMRP. "Recognition of the need for new collaborative research efforts and for the translation of knowledge and techniques from the lab bench to the clinic is reflected in the design of our funding opportunities. The CDMRP hopes to inspire researchers to reach beyond their own highly specialized area of expertise and work with other scientists within or outside of cancer research to significantly impact research process and bring a better life to those who are at risk of developing cancer, and those currently affected by disease."

"Conquering Cancer Through Discovery Research" was the theme of the AACR meeting, a theme also seen in the vision of the CDMRP cancer programs. Over the last 15-17 years, that vision has brought CDMRP cancer funding into the forefront, becoming the 2nd largest research funding source for breast cancer, prostate cancer and ovarian cancer.

The audience was interested in knowing what they could do to get funded.

Having a clear understanding of the intent of the award mechanism and the review criteria is critical for a successful grant application.

Capt. Melissa Kaime, CDMRP director, Gayle Vaday, CDMRP Program Manager, Joy Simha, integration panel member and consumer advocate, and Arul M. Chinnaiyan, CDMRP-funded scientist and scientific peer reviewer, gave an overview about CDMRP, provided descriptions of the funding processes, and discussed how the funding mechanism works.

CDMRP's two-tier review process goal is to find scientifically meritorious proposals and fund those that best fulfill program goals. This can only happen by having a partnership with the peer review panels and integration panel.

CDMRP truly made a home-run when integration panel member and consumer advocate Simha provided a testimony of how participants who are cancer survivors have made the DoD cancer program a success.

For more information about CDMRP, visit http://cdmrp.army.mil/.