RheumPAC Advocates for Department of Defense Arthritis Research Funding

Currently, DOD funding for arthritis research can be obtained through broader programs, such as the Peer Review Medical Research Program. Over the past 20 years, an average of $4.25 million per year has been awarded for arthritis-focused projects.⁶ These awards have yielded important advances, such as the development of new cartilage-penetrating nanocarriers for improved drug delivery to treat osteoarthritis.⁷ However, these grants are difficult to secure; researchers across many disciplines compete for the same funding, making the grants unreliable as a consistent source of arthritis research funding. The ACR and RheumPAC are advocating for a dedicated arthritis line item in the CDMRP to allocate $20 million a year for arthritis research. This would provide funding stability to ensure investigators have the longitudinal support they need to improve arthritis prevention and treatment in a meaningful way.

How You Can Help
The current political climate and the shifting landscape of medicine in the U.S. make it more important than ever for rheumatologists and interprofessional team members to stand up with a unified voice and advocate for our patients and our profession.

Although appropriations season for 2019 has ended, the ACR will kick off 2020 by again advocating for arthritis to be represented in the CDMRP. Your support of RheumPAC will help advocate for expanded research opportunities that will ultimately benefit us all. Visit www.RheumPAC.org to learn more about how to help continue our efforts to increase rheumatology research funding.

Matthew C. Baker, MD, MS, is a clinical instructor in the Division of Immunology and Rheumatology at Stanford University, Palo Alto, Calif., with a focus on patient care, bench research and clinical trials. He studied at Harvard Medical School and trained in internal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. He subsequently went to Stanford for his fellowship in rheumatology, and before becoming clinical instructor, spent a year as a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of William Robinson, MD, PhD.

References

1. Cameron KL, Hsiao MS, Owens BD, et al. Incidence of physician-diagnosed osteoarthritis among active duty United States military service members. Arthritis Rheum. 2011 Oct;63(10):2974–2982.
2. Kopec JA, Rahman MM, Berthelot JM, et al. Descriptive epidemiology of osteoarthritis in British Columbia, Canada. J Rheumatol. 2007 Feb;34(2):386–393.
3. Cross JD, Ficke JR, Hsu JR, et al. Battlefield orthopaedic injuries cause the majority of long-term disabilities. J Am Acad Orthop Surg. 2011;19 Suppl 1:S1–S7.
4. Rivera JC, Wenke JC, Buckwalter JA, et al. Posttraumatic osteoarthritis caused by battlefield injuries: The primary source of disability in warriors. J Am Acad Orthop Surg. 2012;20 Suppl 1:S64–S69.
5. Dominick KL, Golightly YM, Jackson GL. Arthritis prevalence and symptoms among US non-veterans, veterans, and veterans receiving Department of Veterans Affairs Healthcare. J Rheumatol. 2006 Feb;33(2):348–354.
6. Department of Defense. Congressionally directed medical research programs. https://cdmrp.army.mil/search.aspx.
7. Geiger BC, Wang S, Padera RF Jr., et al. Cartilage-penetrating nanocarriers improve delivery and efficacy of growth factor treatment of osteoarthritis. Sci Transl Med. 2018 Nov 28;10(469). pii: eaat8800.