Research Funding Increases for Rehabilitation

December 9, 2019

The National Advisory Board on Medical Rehabilitation Research (NABMRR), the body that advises the directors of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), and the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research (NCMRR) on matters and policies regarding NCMRR’s programs, recently held its semiannual meeting. At the meeting, Dr. Theresa Cruz, Acting Director of NCMRR, delivered a report on the current activities of the Center, including data regarding NIH-wide spending on rehabilitation research. Across NIH, FY 2019 funding for the rehabilitation category tops an estimated $680 million, the largest number since categorical tracking was revised in 2013. NCMRR’s funding for 2019 reached $73 million, of which approximately 81% ($58) went directly to research and related projects. To view more condition-specific research funding totals across NIH, visit this link: https://report.nih.gov/categorical_spending.aspx.

AAPM&R and the Disability and Research Rehabilitation Coalition (DRRC), of which AAPM&R is a founding and steering committee member, consistently advocated for increased federal research dollars in the field of rehabilitation in an effort to improve the ability of Americans with disabilities to live and function as independently as possible. We appreciate Dr. Cruz’s report and are proud of the efforts we have contributed to increasing rehabilitation research funding. We look forward to continuing this work in 2020 and the years to come.