CDMRP Funding Demystified

The Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) fund medical research across more than 30 programs each year through the Defense appropriations bill. Because Congress, not the Department of Defense, sets the programs and topic areas, CDMRP works differently from NIH and from other DoD funding pathways. Lara Lee Hullinghorst, Founder and CEO of Virtual Operations, will give members a solid working understanding of the program in a focused 20-minute overview:

• What CDMRP is, how it is funded, and how programs and topic areas are set each year.

• The range of programs and award mechanisms, and who is eligible to apply.

• How the annual cycle and two-tier review process work.

• What applicants commonly misunderstand about CDMRP.

Members should leave with a clearer picture of how CDMRP works, a better sense of whether it is worth exploring for their organization, and direction on where to go next if they decide to dive deeper.

Lara Lee brings 27 years of experience in government affairs and strategy. Her accomplishments include establishing proteomics as a named topic area within the CDMRP Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program (PRMRP) and defending that listing in each subsequent fiscal year. Virtual Operations, an MTEC member based in Boulder, Colorado, serves life science and health technology companies through a fractional Government Affairs Office model, with work spanning federal lobbying, funding identification and support, and strategic market development in the government space. Twenty minutes of content followed by discussion and Q&A.