DoW Hearing Restoration Focused Research Award

<p><strong>Summary:</strong> The fiscal year 2026 (FY26) Hearing Restoration Research Program (HRRP) Focused Research Award (FRA) supports promising research that accelerates drug discovery and therapeutic development for hearing restoration after military-relevant auditory system injury. The FRA may be used to support preclinical studies and/or clinical research. Research must align with at least one of the FY26 HRRP Focus Areas. The FRA cannot be used to support clinical trials, tinnitus research or vestibular research.</p><p><br></p><p><strong>Distinctive Features:</strong></p><p>• The FRA offers two Funding Levels to support research at different stages and the exploration/development of ideas of different maturity levels.</p><p>• Funding Level 2 includes a Partnering Principal Investigator (PI) Option (PPIO) for two PIs, an Initiating PI and a Partnering PI.</p><p>• Scored peer review criteria include Research Idea/Rationale, Research Strategy and Feasibility, Impact, and Personnel.</p><p>• Programmatic review criteria include adherence to the intent of the FRA, contribution to the HRRP portfolio, relative impact, and relevance to military health.</p>