Call Your Representative to Urge them to Protect Epilepsy Research Program Funding through the CDMRP
Your voice is needed to stop a proposed 57% cut to the Congressionally-Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP).
The CDMRP originated in 1992 to foster novel approaches to biomedical research for the military and the broader American public. The CDMRP is of particular importance to CURE Epilepsy and our community because it houses the Epilepsy Research Program (ERP), which our founder Susan Axelrod advocated to help create back in 2015. The progress we have made in traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post-traumatic epilepsy (PTE) research for veterans and others with acquired epilepsy has come thanks to key funding from the ERP.
The House of Representatives will be voting on a continuing resolution (CR) to fund government programs through the end of fiscal year 2025 (FY25). Unfortunately, the proposed legislation cuts FY25 funding for the CDMRP from $1.509 billion to $650 million – a 57 percent cut from the FY24 enacted level.
CURE Epilepsy is asking you to both call and email your Representatives and Senators TODAY to ask them to protect funding for CDMRP, including the ERP.
Call/Email Script
As you work on upcoming legislation to fund federal programs through the remainder of fiscal year 2025, I encourage you to support the inclusion of language that specifically protects funding for the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) at the Department of Defense (DoD), including the Epilepsy Research Program (ERP).
Over 40% of combat troops who suffer severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) will subsequently develop post-traumatic epilepsy (PTE) and may experience additional symptoms such as confusion, memory loss, and depression. Many people affected by epilepsy experience chronic, life-altering seizures, challenging side effects from medications, and a 3x risk of premature death from accidents, status epilepticus, and sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP).
Since its inception in 2015, Congress has appropriated an aggregate of $97 million for the ERP. The ERP is a peer-reviewed program that awards grants competitively to cutting-edge research proposals aimed at gaining a better understanding of this complex disorder. Continued funding is essential to support a robust level of grant awards for basic, translational and clinical research to truly provide hope for improved quality of life for affected veterans and all those living with epilepsy.
Language protecting the CDMRP has been provided to both House and Senate Appropriations Subcommittees on Defense. If this or similar language is not included in any long-term continuing resolution, we urge you to vote NO on this legislation. Instead, Congress should engage in negotiations to produce a final FY25 Defense Appropriations Act that fully funds the CDMRP.