DHA Funding for Research: Grants, Contracts and How to Apply

“DHA funding” can mean two different things: the Defense Health Agency’s own health-care budget, or the research money that reaches universities, hospitals and companies through DHA-linked programs. This guide covers the second meaning, for research offices deciding which door applies. Everything below is as described on the official pages, checked on 2026-10-29; funding opportunities change, so the specific funding opportunity announcement (FOA) always governs.

The short answer: DHA-linked research money arrives by three routes. Grants come through the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP), contracts come through the DHA Omnibus IV vehicle, and intramural DOD organizations apply through eBRAP rather than Grants.gov. Which one you need decides your registrations, your deadline behavior and your lead time.

What it is and who runs it

The CDMRP’s funding page describes the program as originating in 1992 through a Congressional appropriation, and its page footer lists it under DHA R&D-MRDC with a Fort Detrick, Maryland address. As of 2026-10-29 the page announced $1.27 billion across 34 research programs for fiscal year 2026 (CDMRP funding).

Separately, the Defense Health Agency awarded the Omnibus IV contract in May 2022 to 56 prime contract holders, a multiple-award vehicle for military medical research and development with a $10 billion ceiling and a 10-year ordering period, made up of a 5-year base and a 5-year option (DHA Omnibus IV). It is a contract vehicle, not a grant program.

Grant or contract: which route applies

If you are an investigator or institution proposing your own research idea to a CDMRP program, you are on the grant route. If you are a company or institution wanting to perform work that DHA or a partner agency has defined as a task order, you are on the contract route, and the task order is competed among the prime contract holders. Small businesses that are not primes are directed to contact the primes, whose list is on SAM.gov.

Route	Instrument	Where you apply or engage	Source
CDMRP, extramural (non-DOD organizations)	Grant or award under an FOA	eBRAP pre-application, then full application through Grants.gov	CDMRP How to Apply
CDMRP, intramural (DOD labs, military treatment facilities, DOD activities in civilian medical centers)	Award under an FOA	eBRAP for both pre-application and full application	CDMRP How to Apply
Omnibus IV	Task order under a multiple-award contract	Task orders are competed among the 56 prime holders; small-business set-asides are allowed at the task-order level	DHA Omnibus IV page

Eligibility (summary, with the official source)

For CDMRP, extramural non-DOD organizations and intramural DOD organizations are eligible unless the FOA says otherwise. Foreign and domestic, for-profit and non-profit, and public and private organizations are all named as eligible on the official page (CDMRP How to Apply). For Omnibus IV, eligibility to bid is limited to the prime contract holders; in November 2023 the vehicle received an OMB Tier 2 designation, which the page describes as allowing other government entities to partner with DOD as lead or co-lead on medical R&D.

What it funds or requires

CDMRP funding is organized into research programs, each with its own FOAs; the application requirements are in the FOA, not in a general page. Omnibus IV covers military medical research and development work ordered by task order. For task orders under $25 million, the page says that, depending on complexity, an order can be placed in as little as three months when there is no protest, and that no Contract Access Fee or Industrial Funding Fee is charged. The ordering guide sits on the Acquisition Gateway, under Key Wins for the Medical category.

For indirect cost questions on DOD awards, see the CASRAI entry on the DOD indirect cost rate, and for a side-by-side with NIH rules see NIH vs DOD grant requirements.

Application or compliance steps

The CDMRP application has three steps: submit a pre-application in eBRAP, submit the full application in eBRAP or Grants.gov depending on your organization type, and verify the submission in eBRAP. Every FOA requires an eBRAP pre-application, in one of two formats the FOA sets:

• Letter of Intent: not reviewed, used for planning. Applicants are not invited or declined and can go straight to a full application.
• Pre-proposal: reviewed, and the applicant receives an “invite” or “not invite” decision with no critique. Only invited applicants may submit a full application.

Before the pre-application, the principal investigator must invite the organization, its Business Official and its Authorized Organizational Representative to register in eBRAP. Grants.gov submission requires an organizational UEI, SAM.gov registration, and an authorized user; only the Authorized Organizational Representative can submit. See the CASRAI guide on the UEI number for what the identifier is. For what happens after submission, including the two-tier review used by CDMRP, see CDMRP applications and the eBRAP two-tier review.

Typical timeline phases

The official page gives lead times that a research office can plan around, without any calendar dates:

Item	Lead time stated on the CDMRP page
eBRAP PI account	Processed immediately
eBRAP organization account	1-2 days with a UEI; significantly longer without one
Grants.gov registration	Immediate with a UEI; significantly longer without one
SAM.gov registration	Generally several weeks
CAGE code request or UEI renewal	10-15 business days
New or updated TIN or taxpayer name	About 5 weeks

After the deadline, the Project Narrative and Budget attachments can no longer be changed. Other materials can be updated until the verification period ends, which the page says is typically a few days beyond the application deadline.

Common mistakes

• Treating the deadline as flexible. The CDMRP page states there are no grace periods; a missed deadline results in rejection.
• Starting registrations late. SAM.gov alone is generally several weeks, and a changed TIN is about five weeks, so these belong before the funding opportunity is announced rather than after.
• Registering the PI but not the organization. The PI account is immediate, but the organization account is what the later steps depend on.
• Confusing the Letter of Intent with the Pre-proposal. One is never reviewed; the other can screen you out of the full application.
• Applying through the wrong portal. Extramural full applications go through Grants.gov; intramural DOD applications go through eBRAP.
• Expecting grant rules on a contract vehicle. Omnibus IV is a contract, so its terms differ from a grant’s; see OTA vs grants and contracts for the instrument distinction.

Related programs

Program	What the official page says
CDMRP	Originated in 1992 through a Congressional appropriation; $1.27 billion and 34 research programs announced for fiscal year 2026 on 2026-10-29
DHA Omnibus IV	Awarded May 2022; 56 prime holders; $10 billion ceiling; 10-year ordering period; OMB Tier 2 designation in November 2023

FAQ

Is DHA funding a grant?

Not always. The CDMRP awards research funding through FOAs under a grant-style application process, while Omnibus IV is a multiple-award contract vehicle that issues task orders.

Can a small business get DHA research funding?

Omnibus IV allows small-business set-asides at the task-order level, and the page directs small businesses to contact the primes listed on SAM.gov. CDMRP eligibility includes for-profit organizations unless the FOA says otherwise.

Can foreign organizations apply?

The CDMRP page says foreign and domestic organizations are eligible unless the FOA states otherwise.

Is there a grace period for late applications?

No. The CDMRP page states there are no grace periods for deadlines.

Sources

• CDMRP funding home, checked 2026-10-29.
• CDMRP How to Apply, checked 2026-10-29.
• DHA Omnibus IV, checked 2026-10-29.