FY 2021 Appropriations. Senate Republicans released an explanatory statement and text of their FY 2021 spending bill, including a total of $800 million for VA research, which would provide no increase over the comparable FY 2020 funding level. The press statement and highlights prepared by the committee staff are also available.
The FOVA Executive Committee sent a Nov. 16 letter to House and Senate Appropriations Committee leaders (also attached) urging passage of at least $840 million for the VA Medical and Prosthetic Research program in FY 2021, as included in the House-passed MilCon-VA spending bill. Please forward this letter to your Hill contacts urging appropriators to increase the VA research budget during this critical time for medical research.
Bicameral appropriations leaders are working to negotiate topline spending levels for all 12 FY 2021 spending bills in hopes of finalizing an omnibus appropriations package by the end of the calendar year. The current continuing resolution is set to expire on December 11.
VA COVID-19 Research Activities. The VA Office of Research and Development publishes regular communications about its COVID-19 research efforts. The ORD webpage “VA Research During the COVID-19 Pandemic” is updated regularly, and the recent Research Currents edition focused on COVID-19 efforts at VA.
Clinical Repurposing Funding Opportunity. The global nonprofit Cures Within Reach recently launched the Clinical Repurposing for Veterans Initiative. The program’s goal is to identify new medical treatments for already approved medications and devices to impact high-priority health concerns for veterans and active military. Cures Within Reach is launching its Clinical Repurposing for Veterans Initiative with a Request for Proposals (RFP) specifically for repurposing research in any disease area that will benefit veterans. Investigator-initiated proposals can come from any US-based institution, and at least one project will be selected to receive a $50,000 grant from Cures Within Reach and its funding partner, the Kahlert Foundation for a clinical repurposing trial. Additional details are in the attached press release or at cureswithinreach.org.
