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Updated February 12, 2019
Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs Funding
for FY2019
Members of Congress are frequently lobbied to add funding
Funding amounts for specific medical research areas are
to annual defense appropriation legislation for certain
listed in Table 1.
medical research programs on a wide variety of diseases
and topics. In addressing annual appropriations bills, many
Table 1. CDMRP Funding, FY2019
Members frequently seek information on enacted levels for
(in millions of dollars)
such funding under the Congressionally Directed Medical
Research Programs (CDMRP).
Program Title
FY2019
CDMRP Administration and Funding
Alcohol and Substance Abuse Disorders
4
The CDMRP is a congressional appropriation to the
Alzheimer’s Disease
15
Department of Defense (DOD) explicitly for biomedical
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
10
research in specific, congressionally identified health
Autism
7.5
matters. The U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel
Bone Marrow Failure
3
Command (USAMRMC) administers the CDMRP and is
Breast Cancer
130
responsible for awarding and managing competitive grants.
Chronic Pain Management
10
Congress usually inserts CDMRP funding as Undistributed
Combat Readiness
15
Medical Research in the Defense Health Program’s
Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
3.2
Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E)
Epilepsy
7.5
account in the annual DOD appropriation. CDMRP funding
Global HIV/AIDS prevention
8
is not part of the President’s budget request for overall
Gulf War Illness
22
RDT&E. Congressional documents accompanying the
Hearing Restoration
10
annual defense appropriation act (i.e., conference reports or
HIV/AIDS
12.9
explanatory statements) identify the specific research areas. Joint Warfighter Medical
50
The Department of Defense and Labor, Health and Human
Kidney Cancer
20
Services, and Education Appropriations Act, 2019 and
Lung Cancer
14
Continuing Appropriations Act, 2019 (P.L. 115-245),
Lupus
5
inserted $1.47 billion into the RDT&E account for
Melanoma
10
CDMRP. This amount comprised 67% of the overall
Multiple Sclerosis
6
Defense Health Program’s RDT&E appropriation, as
Orthotics and Prosthetics Outcomes
10
indicated in Figure 1. Biomedical research conducted by
Ovarian Cancer
20
the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or other
Peer-Reviewed Cancer
90
military research agencies is not reflected in this account.
Peer-Reviewed Medical
350
Figure 1. Total Defense Health Program RDT&E
Peer-Reviewed Orthopedic
30
Appropriation, FY2019
Prostate Cancer
100
Psychological Health/Traumatic Brain Injury
125
Reconstructive Transplant
12
Spinal Cord Injury
30
Tick-Borne Disease
5
Trauma Clinical
10
Tuberous Sclerosis
6
Vision
20
Core Program Funding
299.2
TOTAL 1,470.3
Source: U.S. Congress, Conference Committee, conference report
Source: U.S. Congress, Conference Committee, conference report
to accompany H.R. 6157, 115th Cong., H.Rept. 115-952, p. 448.
to accompany H.R. 6157, 115th Cong., H.Rept. 115-952, p. 446.
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CDMRP Funding Requests
Table 2. PRMRP-Eligible Conditions or Treatments,
Members may request funding for medical research during
FY2019
the annual defense appropriations process. The
Acute lung injury
Lung Injury
appropriations committees typically send Members a
Antimicrobial Resistance
Metals Toxicology
memorandum with instructions for submitting requests.
Both House and Senate committee reports may specify
Arthritis
Mitochondrial Disease
funding associated with certain research. A conference
Burn Pit Exposure
Musculoskeletal Disorders
committee typically resolves differences.
Cardiomyopathy
Myotonic Dystrophy
The medical research programs funded under the CDMRP
are not static. Funding may be provided for conditions not
Cerebellar Ataxia
Nanomaterials for Bone
Regeneration
funded in previous years. For example, funding for tick-
Chronic Migrane & Post-
Nutrition Optimization
borne disease research was provided in FY2016-FY2019,
Traumatic Headache
but no associated funds were provided in FY2015.
Congenital Heart Disease
Pancreatitis
Program Announcements and Awards
Constrictive Bronchiolitis
Pathogenic-Inactivated Blood
Products
CDMRP issues program announcements to alert researchers
Diabetes
Polycystic Kidney Disease
to grant opportunities. The program announcements include
Dystonia
Post-Traumatic Osteoarthritis
detailed descriptions of funding mechanisms, evaluation
criteria, submission requirements, and deadlines. Program
Eating Disorders
Pressure Ulcers
announcements may be downloaded from the Grants.gov
Emerging Infectious Diseases
Pulmonary Fibrosis
website, or the CDMRP website (http://cdmrp.army.mil/).
Epidermolysis Bullosa
Resilience Training
Grant awards and related publications may be searched on,
Focal Segmental
or downloaded from, a database available at the CDMRP
Glomerulosclerosis
Respiratory Health
website. In addition, the CDMRP website provides links to
Frontotemporal Degeneration
Rett Syndrome
brochures about individual research programs providing
Guillain-Barre Syndrome
Rheumatoid Arthritis
more detailed information. Annual reports may be accessed
through the CDMRP website as well.
Hemorrhage Control
Scleroderma
Hepatitis B
Sleep Disorders
Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program
The program with the highest annual funding level under
Hereditary Angioedema
Spinal Muscular Atrophy
the CDMRP is generally the Peer Reviewed Medical
Hydrocephalus
Tinnitus
Research Program (PRMRP). For FY2019, $350 million
Immunomonitoring of Intestinal
was appropriated for the PRMRP.
Tissue Regeneration
Transplants
Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Tuberculosis
PRMRP funding supports grants for medical research on a
number of conditions or treatment modalities. Congress
Interstitial Cystitis
Vascular Malformations
specifies an annual list of eligible conditions or treatments
Women's Heart Disease
that typically includes a few changes from year to year as
Source: U.S. Congress, Conference Committee, conference report
medical research priorities shift.
to accompany H.R. 6157, 115th Cong., H.Rept. 115-952, p. 450.
For example, research on burn pit exposure was eligible for
Table 3. PRCRP-Eligible Cancers and Treatments,
FY2019
funding in FY2017-FY2019, but was not eligible for
funding in FY2016. Nevertheless, an investigator interested
Bladder Cancer
Lymphoma
in burn pit exposure-related research could have submitted
Blood Cancer
Mesothelioma
FY2016 grant applications for related eligible topics such as
respiratory health, constrictive bronchiolitis, and pulmonary
Brain Cancer
Neuroblastoma
fibrosis. Table 2 lists all 49 conditions or treatments
Colorectal Cancer
Pancreatic Cancer
eligible for FY2019 PRMRP funding.
Immunotherapy
Pediatric Brain Tumors
Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program
Listeria Vaccine for Cancer
Stomach Cancers
Similar to the PRMRP, Peer Reviewed Cancer Research
Liver Cancer
Rare Cancers
Program (PRCRP) funding supports grants for medical
research on various cancers and related treatment
Cancer in Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults
modalities. For FY2019, $90 million was appropriated for
Source: U.S. Congress, Conference Committee, conference report
the PRCRP, separate from other CDMRP funding for
to accompany H.R. 6157, 115th Cong., H.Rept. 115-952, p. 449.
breast, kidney, lung, melanoma, ovarian, and prostate
cancers. Table 3 lists all 15 cancers and treatments eligible
Bryce H. P. Mendez, Analyst in Defense Health Care
for FY2019 PRCRP funding.
Policy
IF10349
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Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs Funding for FY2019
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