What are Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP)?

The Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP), located within the U.S. Army Medical Research and Development Command and under the Department of Defense's U.S. Army Futures Command is a global funding organization that supports basic, translational and clinical research projects, research training, and research infrastructure. The mission of these programs are to advance biomedical research and deliver healthcare solutions in response to the needs of Service Members, Veterans, and the American public.

Since its inception in 1992, CDMRP has provided $16.2B+ to fund high impact, high risk, and high gain projects across a diverse set of biomedical research areas, including drugs and therapeutic, diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers, novel approaches to clinical care, disease prevention and treatment, and more.

CDMRP is funded through the Department of Defense via the Defense Appropriations Act. Funding strategies and priorities of CDMRP adapt each year based on areas of highest potential impact and highest priority needs of patients and researchers, and congressional establishment of new programs. A two-tier review process is implemented in the evaluation of applications. The first tier is a criterion-based peer review of scientific merit. The second tier is programmatic review conducted by leading scientists, clinicians, and other end consumers, which evaluates adherence to intent, program relevance and potential for impact.

Annual CDMRP programs generally have a quick turnaround time between the release of funding opportunities and the application deadline for peer and programmatic review. For some programs, a pre-application process is used to screen for potential high-impact applications and focus resources.

An overview of the CDMRP can be found here. CDMRP has also generated a webinar series on different funding opportunities and successful application strategies.

For 2023, CDMRP is funding the following areas of interest:

Alcohol and Substance Use Disorders Research Program - $4.0 million

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Research Program - $40.0 million

Autism Research Program - $15.0 million

Bone Marrow Failure Disease Research Program - $7.5 million

Breast Cancer Research Program - $150.0 million

Chronic Pain Management Research Program - $15.0 million

Combat Readiness Medical Research Program - $5.0 million

Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Research Program - $10.0 million

Epilepsy Research Program - $12.0 million

Hearing Restoration Research Program – $5.0 million

Joint Warfighter Medical Research Program - $25.0 million

Kidney Cancer Research Program - $50.0 million

Lung Cancer Research Program – $25.0 million

Lupus Research Program - $10.0 million

Melanoma Research Program - $40.0 million

Military Burn Research Program - $10.0 million

Multiple Sclerosis Research Program - $20.0 million

Neurofibromatosis Research Program - $25.0 million

Orthotics and Prosthetics Outcomes Research Program - $15.0 million

Ovarian Cancer Research Program - $45.0 million

Pancreatic Cancer Research Program - $15.0 million

Parkinson’s Research Program - $16.0 million

Peer Reviewed Alzheimer's Research Program - $15.0 million

Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program (20 topics) - $130.0 million

Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program (50 topics) - $370.0 million

Peer Reviewed Orthopedic Research Program - $30.0 million

Prostate Cancer Research Program - $110 million

Rare Cancers Research Program - $17.5 million

Reconstructive Transplant Research Program - $12.0 million

Spinal Cord Injury Research Program - $40.0 million

Tick-Borne Disease Research Program - $7.0 million

Toxic Exposures Research Program - $30.0 million

Traumatic Brain Injury and Psychological Health Research Program - $175.0 million

Tuberous Sclerosis Complex Research Program - $8.0 million

Vision Research Program - $20.0 million

Source: https://cdmrp.health.mil/default.