Program Overview
The Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) exists to move high-impact biomedical research forward in areas that matter to Service Members, their families, Veterans, and the broader public, often where traditional funding pathways may not fully cover the risk or urgency. In FY26, that mission is paired with one of CDMRP’s defining advantages: a two-tier review designed to balance scientific excellence with programmatic relevance, using peer review plus a programmatic review that aligns awards to the program’s goals.
FY26 appropriations restore CDMRP to $1.27 billion
On February 3, 2026, CDMRP received $1.27B in appropriations for 34 research programs, a major restoration of capacity and breadth across disease areas and warfighter-relevant needs.
That is a dramatic shift from FY25, when the “Full-Year Continuing Appropriations and Extensions Act of 2025” provided $650M and funding concentrated into a much smaller set of programs.
If you have been waiting for CDMRP to “open back up,” this is that moment.
What is funded in FY26
The FY26 portfolio spans 34 programs, but a few anchors carry a meaningful share of the total.
High-level highlights worth knowing early:
- Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program (PRMRP): $370M (52 topics)
- Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program (PRCRP): $165M (20 topics)
- Breast Cancer: $145M
- Prostate Cancer: $75M
- Ovarian Cancer: $50M
- Multiple additional programs at meaningful levels, including melanoma, ALS, TBI and psychological health, spinal cord injury, toxic exposures, lupus, kidney cancer, lung cancer, and more.
What happens next: pre-announcements, then FOAs
CDMRP will roll out pre-announcements and then full Funding Opportunity Announcements (FOAs) as each program finalizes mechanisms, intent, and timelines. FOAs will be posted on CDMRP, Grants.gov, and eBRAP, and CDMRP explicitly notes that applications must conform to the final FOA posted on Grants.gov.
Two actions I recommend doing now:
- Reach out to your Grant Engine Program Manager
- Subscribe to our newsletter for additional news releases
How to navigate CDMRP opportunities efficiently
A clean workflow that saves weeks:
- Start from the program list, not from Grants.gov
Grants.gov is necessary, but CDMRP program pages and pre-announcements are often the fastest way to understand fit and mechanism intent early. - Anchor on mechanism intent and review criteria
CDMRP tailors review criteria by mechanism, and your job is to write to those criteria, not to a generic NIH template. - Plan for eBRAP pre-application as a gating step
CDMRP requires a pre-application in eBRAP for all funding opportunities (often a Letter of Intent or a Pre-Proposal). If you wait until the FOA drops to operationalize eBRAP and your internal assets, you will feel behind immediately.
Strategies for success in FY26
Here is what consistently de-risks the effort and raises win probability:
- Write for the warfighter and those who support them: make relevance explicit, specific, and measurable.
- Treat the two-tier review as two different audiences: scientific peer reviewers need rigor and feasibility; programmatic reviewers need portfolio-fit, impact, and relevance to program goals.
The “military champion” concept, done correctly
Having a real end-user advocate is often decisive, but it should be structured as mission pull, not name-dropping. The best versions look like:
- A military or VA collaborator who helps define the operational problem and validates requirements
- Letters of support that speak to adoption, deployment constraints, and why your solution matters now
- A study design that reflects real-world use, not just lab success
Need help securing significant funding? If you have questions about how these updates affect your strategy, or want support preparing for finding new opportunities, contact us. Together, we will continue pushing innovation forward.
Text: (650) 885-9872
Email: greatscience@grantengine.com
Website: grantengine.com
Additional Resources:
- CDMRP Website: https://cdmrp.health.mil
- Upcoming Funding Opportunities: https://cdmrp.
health.mil/pubs/press/press - To subscribe to opportunities: https://ebrap.org/eBRAP/
programSubscription/Subscribe. htm
Program Overview
The CDMRP strives to fund projects that other agencies may not be willing to take on, in order to bridge research gaps. Contrary to their name, you would not advocate or lobby your member of congress to secure this funding, nor will this generally yield fruit (unless the relationship is a special one). All CDMRP programs have the same goal of developing groundbreaking research, treatments, and technologies that will improve patient care with a specific focus on the warfighter and those supporting them. The CDMRP has several key principles that guide their approach. These include investing in innovative research, targeting critical gaps, having a two-tier review process without any standing peer review panels, involving consumer advocates, supporting both new and established researchers, funding the full research pipeline from basic to clinical research, and fostering collaboration.
Importantly, foreign entities, non-profit research organizations and for-profit companies are all eligible for CDMRP funding.
Opportunities for Funding
Active Funding Opportunities can be found here. Note, the general area “Peer Reviewed Medical” for general opportunities. If there is an area of focus that aligns with your product roadmap, click through and then click on top hyperlink “Synopsis”. This will link through to a PDF that provides a brief description, amounts, parameters, submission dates, and other key elements of the award mechanism.
Don’t see areas of interest? The list of additional Research Programs will navigate you to a list of currently funded research programs, although there are no open solicitations for this list. Navigating to the area of interest (there are 38 at last count, so it’s likely to have an area of interest to you) will identify possible opportunities that will arrive in the future. Also, dive in on the general area “Peer Reviewed Medical” for additional general opportunities. To understand when these might be issued, email the CDMRP program at usarmy.detrick.medcom-cdmrp.mbx.cdmrp-public-affairs@mail.mil.
As well, at the bottom of the Research Programs page, there are Additional Supported DOD Programs/Projects which offer additional programs that are available on a rolling basis.
Strategies for Success:
- Have a military Champion who is an advocate for your work! See below for further details.
- Write the proposal with the audience in mind: the warfighter and those who support them.
- Carefully review the Funding Opportunity Announcement to gain an understanding of the mechanism intent, research focus areas, submission information, administrative and regulatory requirements, and review criteria
- Demonstrate the relevance of the proposed project to program-specific goals and explain how it will provide solutions to the military and it’s specific problems
- Demonstrate project feasibility by providing evidence of appropriate expertise, appropriately powered studies, and availability of and access to critical resources and/or subject populations
- Meet the deadlines listed on the front cover of the funding opportunity, and if working with Grant Engine, the internal project deadlines
How do I engage with leaders in the military? Search through to the research programs, and find programmatic panels here. Click into the area of interest, and navigate to the bottom of the respective page, and select “Programmatic Panel” for current year or previous years. There, you will see individuals and their affiliation. Focus on those in the military or a retiree of the military (unless you have a basis to do so, generally avoid those affiliated with academia). To avoid conflict, you are well served to leverage prior year programmatic panel members.
To find additional military opportunities go to the bottom right of the listing here to see a variety of opportunities, including:
Medical Simulation and Information Sciences Research Program (JPC-1)
Military Operational Medicine Research Program (JPC-5)
Combat Casualty Care Research Program (JPC-6)
Radiation Health Effects Research Program (JPC-7)
Clinical and Rehabilitative Medicine Research Program (JPC-8)
Still haven’t found what you’re looking for? To search for additional military funding solicitations, navigate to grants.gov and enter “12.420” unto the CFDA search criteria box.
When you are ready to engage Grant Engine, please contact us here call (650) 937-9164, or text (650) 885-9872.