Call Your Representative to Urge them to Restore Epilepsy Research Program Funding through the CDMRP
Congress slashed the Congressionally-Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) budget by 57% for FY25—including suspending funding for all epilepsy-related programs in the CDMRP with no new funding opportunities anticipated this year.
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.
On March 13, a continuing resolution (CR) to fund government programs through the end of fiscal year 2025 (FY25) was signed into law that cut FY25 funding for the CDMRP from $1.509 billion to $650 million – a 57 percent cut from the FY24 enacted level. CURE Epilepsy is joining medical research organizations across the nation in a day of action on 4/15. We’re asking you to both call and email your Representatives and Senators to ask them to protect funding for CDMRP, including the ERP.
Call/Email Script
I am one of your constituents, and I am deeply troubled by the dramatic budget reductions for the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) at the Department of Defense (DoD), including the Epilepsy Research Program (ERP). A 57% cut to these programs threatens to stall scientific progress that has the potential to have major fiscal ramifications for the nation.
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.
There are nearly 3.4 million Americans, including 470,000 children, living with active epilepsy. Epilepsy is the fourth most common neurological condition, impacting people throughout their lifetime. Epilepsy and/or seizures impose an annual economic healthcare burden of $54 billion in the U.S. — in 2024, the Epilepsy Research Program only received $12 million, a sliver of that $54 billion. Epilepsy research and programs not only have the opportunity to save American lives, but also to dramatically lower the fiscal burden of this condition.
I am urging you to work in a bipartisan way to restore CDMRP funding and ensure it is protected in FY26. American families are depending on you.