Congress cut more than $40 million in spinal cord injury research from the Department of Defense office, Wisconsin Public Radio reported April 11.
The DoD’s spinal cord injury research program prioritizes funding to studies that will directly help patients and include insights from patient advocates, the report said. The Congressional cuts leave researchers worried over fewer funding sources.
Funding for the program is managed by the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs, which was directed to choose 12 programs to fund in 2025, and that didn’t include the spinal injury program.
“If multiple sources aren’t there, some labs may not be able to sustain their research studies in spinal injury,” Kristi Streeter, PhD. an assistant professor at Marquette University, said in the report. “That would translate to less labs doing spinal injury work. So … that would have a potential big impact on the field, on patients.”
