The PRCRP Idea Award with Special Focus mechanism is intended to support innovative, untested, high-risk/potentially high-reward concepts, theories, paradigms, and/or methods in cancer research that are directly relevant to service members, their families, and other military beneficiaries. The proposed research project should include a well-formulated, testable hypothesis based on strong scientific rationale and study design. The Idea Award with Special Focus is not intended to support a logical progression of an already established research project. The proposed research project should be novel and innovative. Innovative research may introduce a new paradigm, challenge existing paradigms, look at existing problems from new perspectives, or exhibit other uniquely creative qualities. Research that is an incremental advance upon published data is not considered innovative and will not be considered for funding under this award mechanism. Inclusion of preliminary data is discouraged. The outcome of research supported by this award should be the generation of robust preliminary data that can be used as a foundation for future research projects to understand the mechanisms of initiation, or progression of cancer. This award is not intended to support ongoing research in the applicantÂ’s laboratory; therefore, inclusion of preliminary data other than serendipitous findings or in very small numbers is not consistent with the exploratory nature of this award.