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Updated January 10, 2020
Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs Funding
for FY2020
Members of Congress are frequently lobbied to add funding
Table 1 lists the FY2020 CDMRP funding amounts for
to annual defense appropriation legislation for certain
specific medical research areas.
medical research programs on a wide variety of diseases
Table 1. CDMRP Funding, FY2020
and topics. In addressing annual appropriations bills, many
(in millions of dol ars)
Members frequently seek information on enacted levels for
such funding under the Congressionally Directed Medical
Program Title
FY2020
Research Programs (CDMRP).
Alzheimer’s Disease
15
CDMRP Administration and Funding
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
20
The CDMRP is a Department of Defense (DOD) program
Autism
15
that receives congressional appropriations explicitly for
Bone Marrow Failure
3
biomedical research in specific, congressionally identified
Breast Cancer
150
health matters. As such, it is not part of the President’s
Chronic Pain Management
15
budget request for the DOD. The U.S. Army Medical
Research and Development Command (USAMRDC)
Combat Readiness
10
administers the CDMRP and is responsible for awarding
Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
10
and managing competitive grants.
Epilepsy
12
Global HIV/AIDS Prevention
8
Congress usually inserts CDMRP funding as Undistributed
Gulf War Il ness
22
Medical Research in the Defense Health Program’s
Hearing Restoration
10
Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E)
HIV/AIDS
15
account in the annual DOD appropriation. Congressional
documents accompanying the annual defense appropriation
Joint Warfighter Medical
40
act (i.e., conference reports or explanatory statements)
Kidney Cancer
40
identify the specific research areas for a given fiscal year.
Lung Cancer
14
Lupus
10
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020 (P.L. 116-93),
Melanoma
20
inserted $1.61 billion into the RDT&E account for
Multiple Sclerosis
16
CDMRP. This amount comprises 70% of the overall
Orthotics and Prosthetics Outcomes
15
Defense Health Program’s RDT&E appropriation, as
Ovarian Cancer
35
reflected in Figure 1. Biomedical research conducted by
the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or other
Pancreatic Cancer
6
military research agencies is not included in this account.
Peer-Reviewed Cancer
110
Peer-Reviewed Medical
360
Figure 1. Total Defense Health Program RDT&E
Peer-Reviewed Orthopedic
30
Appropriation, FY2020
Prostate Cancer
110
Psychological Health/Traumatic Brain Injury
165
Rare Cancers
7.5
Reconstructive Transplant
12
Scleroderma
5
Spinal Cord Injury
40
Tick-Borne Disease
7
Trauma Clinical
10
Tuberous Sclerosis
6
Vision
20
Core Program Funding
232.1
TOTAL 1,615.6
Source: U.S. Congress, Conference Committee, Explanatory
Statement accompanying H.R. 1158, 116th Cong., Division A, pp. 89B-
Source: U.S. Congress, Conference Committee, Explanatory
89C.
Statement accompanying H.R. 1158, 116th Cong., Division A, p. 89A
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CDMRP Funding Requests
Table 2. PRMRP-Eligible Conditions or Treatments,
Members may request funding for medical research during
FY2020
the annual defense appropriations process. The
Arthritis
Inflammatory Bowel Disease
appropriations committees typically send Members a
Burn Pit Exposure
Interstitial Cystitis
memorandum with instructions for submitting requests.
Both House and Senate committee reports may specify
Chronic Migraine & Post-
Metals Toxicology
Traumatic Headache
funding associated with certain research. A conference
committee typically resolves any differences between the
Congenital Heart Disease
Mitochondrial Disease
committee reports.
Constrictive Bronchiolitis
Musculoskeletal Health
The medical research programs funded under the CDMRP
Diabetes
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
are not static. Funding may be provided for conditions not
Dystonia
Myotonic Dystrophy
funded in previous years. For example, funding for tick-
borne disease research was provided in FY2016-FY2020,
Eating Disorders
Nutrition Optimization
but no associated funds were provided in FY2015.
Emerging Viral Diseases
Pancreatitis
Program Announcements and Awards
Endometriosis
Pathogenic-Inactivated Blood
USAMRDC issues periodic program announcements to
Products
alert researchers of CDMRP grant opportunities. The
Epidermolysis Bul osa
Plant-based Vaccines
program announcements include detailed descriptions of
Familial Hypercholesterolemia
Polycystic Kidney Disease
funding mechanisms, evaluation criteria, submission
requirements, and deadlines. Program announcements are
Fibrous Dysplasia
Pressure Ulcers
listed on the Grants.gov website, or the CDMRP website
Focal Segmental
Pulmonary Fibrosis
Glomerulosclerosis
(http://cdmrp.army.mil/).
Food Al ergies
Resilience Training
The CDMRP website also includes information on awarded
Fragile X
Respiratory Health
grants and other resources such as related publications,
brochures about individual research programs, and annual
Frontotemporal Degeneration
Rheumatoid Arthritis
reports.
Guil ain-Barre Syndrome
Sleep Disorders
Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program
Hemorrhage Control
Spinal Muscular Atrophy
The program with the highest annual funding level under
the CDMRP is generally the Peer Reviewed Medical
Hepatitis B
Sustained Release Drug Delivery
Research Program (PRMRP). For FY2020, $360 million
Hydrocephalus
Vascular Malformations
was appropriated for the PRMRP.
Immunomonitoring of Intestinal
Women's Heart Disease
PRMRP funding supports grants for medical research on a
Transplants
Source: U.S. Congress, Conference Committee, Explanatory
number of conditions or treatment modalities. Congress
Statement accompanying H.R. 1158, 116th Cong., Division A, p. 92.
specifies an annual list of eligible conditions or treatments
that typically includes a few changes from year to year as
Table 3. PRCRP-Eligible Cancers and Treatments,
medical research priorities shift.
FY2020
For example, research on burn pit exposure was eligible for
Bladder Cancer
Liver Cancer
funding in FY2017-FY2020, but was not eligible for
Blood Cancer
Mesothelioma
funding in FY2016. Nevertheless, an investigator interested
in burn pit exposure-related research could have submitted
Brain Cancer
Metastatic Cancers
FY2016 grant applications for related eligible topics such as
Colorectal Cancer
Neuroblastoma
respiratory health, constrictive bronchiolitis, and pulmonary
fibrosis. Table 2 lists all 44 conditions or treatments
Esophageal Cancer
Pediatric Brain Tumors
eligible for FY2020 PRMRP funding.
Head & Neck Cancer
Stomach Cancers
Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program
Cancer in Children, Adolescents,
Immunotherapy
Similar to the PRMRP, Peer Reviewed Cancer Research
and Young Adults
Program (PRCRP) funding supports grants for medical
Source: U.S. Congress, Conference Committee, Explanatory
research on various cancers and related treatment
Statement accompanying H.R. 1158, 116th Cong., Division A, p. 91.
modalities. For FY2020, $110 million was appropriated for
the PRCRP, separate from other CDMRP funding for
Bryce H. P. Mendez, Analyst in Defense Health Care
breast, kidney, lung, melanoma, ovarian, pancreatic,
Policy
prostate, and rare cancers. Table 3 lists all 14 cancers and
treatments eligible for FY2020 PRCRP funding.
IF10349
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Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs Funding for FY2020
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