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Updated March 29, 2022
Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs Funding
for FY2022
Members of Congress are frequently lobbied to add funding
Table 1. CDMRP Funding, FY2022
to annual defense appropriation legislation for certain
(in millions of dol ars)
medical research programs on a wide variety of diseases
and topics. In addressing annual appropriations bills, many
Program Title
FY2022
Members frequently seek information on enacted levels for
such funding under the Congressionally Directed Medical
Alcohol and Substance Use Disorders
4
Research Programs (CDMRP).
Alzheimer’s Disease
15
CDMRP Administration and Funding
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
40
The CDMRP is a Department of Defense (DOD) program
Autism
15
that receives congressional appropriations explicitly for
Bone Marrow Failure Disease
7.5
biomedical research in specific, congressionally identified
health matters. As such, it is not part of the President’s
Breast Cancer
150
budget request for the DOD. The U.S. Army Medical
Chronic Pain Management
15
Research and Development Command (USAMRDC)
Combat Readiness Medical
10
administers the CDMRP and is responsible for awarding
Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
10
and managing competitive grants.
Epilepsy
12
Congress usually inserts CDMRP funding as Undistributed
Medical Research in the Defense Health Program’s
Global HIV/AIDS Prevention
10
Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E)
Hearing Restoration
10
account in the annual DOD appropriation. Congressional
Joint Warfighter Medical
40
documents accompanying the annual defense appropriation
Kidney Cancer
50
act (i.e., conference reports or explanatory statements)
identify the specific research areas for a given fiscal year.
Lung Cancer
20
The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2022 (P.L. 117-103)
Lupus
10
inserted $1.518 billion into the RDT&E account for
Melanoma
40
CDMRP. This amount comprises 58% of the overall
Multiple Sclerosis
20
Defense Health Program’s RDT&E appropriation, as
Orthotics and Prosthetics Outcomes
20
reflected in Figure 1. Biomedical research conducted by
the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency or other
Ovarian Cancer
45
military research agencies is not included in this account.
Pancreatic Cancer
15
Figure 1. Total Defense Health Program RDT&E
Peer-Reviewed Cancer
130
Appropriation, FY2022
Peer-Reviewed Medical
370
Peer-Reviewed Orthopedic
30
Prostate Cancer
110
Rare Cancers
17.5
Reconstructive Transplant
12
Spinal Cord Injury
40
Tick-Borne Disease
7
Toxic Exposures
30
Trauma Clinical
10
Traumatic Brain Injury and Psychological Health
175
Tuberous Sclerosis
8
Vision
20
TOTAL
1,518
Source: "Explanatory Statement accompanying H.R. 2471,"
Congressional Record, March 9, 2022, p. H2155.
Source: "Explanatory Statement accompanying H.R. 2471,"
Table 1 lists the FY2022 CDMRP funding amounts for
Congressional Record, March 9, 2022, p. H2155.
specific medical research areas.
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CDMRP Funding Requests
Table 2. PRMRP-Eligible Conditions, FY2022
Members may request funding for medical research during
Arthritis
Malaria
the annual defense appropriations process. The
appropriations committees typically send Members a
Cardiomyopathy
Mitochondrial Disease
memorandum with instructions for submitting requests.
Congenital Heart Disease
Musculoskeletal Disorders
Both House and Senate committee reports may specify
Myalgic
funding associated with certain research. A conference
Diabetes
Encephalomyelitis/Chronic
committee typically resolves any differences between the
Fatigue Syndrome
committee reports.
Dystonia
Myotonic Dystrophy
The medical research programs funded under the CDMRP
Eating Disorders
Nephrotic Syndrome
are not static. Funding may be provided for conditions not
Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome
Non-Opioid Pain Management
funded in previous years. For example, funding for tick-
borne disease research was provided in FY2016-FY2020,
Emerging Viral Diseases
Nutrition Optimization
but no associated funds were provided in FY2015.
Endometriosis
Pancreatitis
Program Announcements and Awards
Epidermolysis Bul osa
Pathogen-Inactivated Blood
Products
USAMRDC issues periodic program announcements to
Familial Hypercholesterolemia
Peripheral Neuropathy
alert researchers of CDMRP grant opportunities. The
program announcements include detailed descriptions of
Fibrous Dysplasia
Plant-Based Vaccines
funding mechanisms, evaluation criteria, submission
Friedreich’s Ataxia
Platelet-Like Cell Production
requirements, and deadlines. Program announcements are
Focal Segmental
listed on the Grants.gov website, or the CDMRP website
Polycystic Kidney Disease
Glomerulosclerosis
(http://cdmrp.army.mil).
Food Al ergies
Pressure Ulcers
The CDMRP website also includes information on awarded
Fragile X
Pulmonary Fibrosis
grants and other resources such as related publications,
brochures about individual research programs, and annual
Frontotemporal Degeneration
Respiratory Health
reports.
Guil ain-Barre Syndrome
Rett Syndrome
Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program
Hemorrhage Control
Rheumatoid Arthritis
The program with the highest annual funding level under
Hepatitis B
Sleep Disorders and Restriction
the CDMRP is generally the Peer Reviewed Medical
Research Program (PRMRP). For FY2022, $370 million
Hydrocephalus
Suicide Prevention
was appropriated for the PRMRP.
Hypercholesterolemia
Sustained Release Drug Delivery
PRMRP funding supports grants for medical research on a
Hypertension
Trauma
number of conditions or treatment modalities that are of
Inflammatory Bowel Diseases
Vascular Malformation
“clear scientific merit and direct relevance to military
health.” Congress specifies an annual list of eligible
Interstitial Cystitis
Women’s Heart Disease
conditions or treatments that typically includes a few
Source: "Explanatory Statement accompanying H.R. 2471,"
changes from year to year as medical research priorities
Congressional Record, March 9, 2022, p. H2156.
shift.
Table 3. PRCRP-Eligible Cancer Topics, FY2022
For example, research on burn pit exposure was eligible for
Bladder Cancer
Mesothelioma
funding in FY2017-FY2021, but was not eligible for
funding in FY2016. Nevertheless, an investigator interested
Blood Cancers
Metastatic Cancers
in burn pit exposure-related research could have submitted
Brain Cancer
Myeloma
FY2016 grant applications for related eligible topics such as
respiratory health, constrictive bronchiolitis, and pulmonary
Colorectal Cancer
Neuroblastoma
fibrosis. Table 2 lists all 50 conditions or treatments
Endometrial Cancer
Pediatric Brain Tumors
eligible for FY2022 PRMRP funding.
Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program
Pediatric, Adolescent, and Young
Esophageal Cancer
Adult Cancers
Similar to the PRMRP, Peer Reviewed Cancer Research
Program (PRCRP) funding supports grants for medical
Germ Cel Cancers
Sarcoma
research on various cancers and related treatment
modalities. For FY2022, $130 million was appropriated for
Head and Neck Cancer
Stomach Cancer
the PRCRP, separate from other CDMRP funding for
Liver Cancer
Thyroid Cancer
breast, kidney, lung, melanoma, ovarian, pancreatic,
prostate, and rare cancers. Table 3 lists all 20 cancers and
Lymphoma
Von Hippel-Lindau Disease
treatments eligible for FY2022 PRCRP funding.
Source: "Explanatory Statement accompanying H.R. 2471,"
Congressional Record, March 9, 2022, p. H2156.
Bryce H. P. Mendez, Analyst in Defense Health Care
Policy
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Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs Funding for FY2022
IF10349
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