FPN Neuropathy Advocacy Day Recap
For the first time, we organized Neuropathy Advocacy Day and took our message directly to Congress. On March 18, 2025, staff and board members from the Foundation traveled to Washington, D.C. to speak up for the 30 million Americans who have peripheral neuropathy (PN). Our visit was urgent because earlier this month, Congress passed a bill that cut funding for medical research by 57%. This will make it harder to fight chronic diseases without cures, like PN.
Goals of Advocacy Day
Our main goals were to talk about the importance of federal funding for research, explain how funding cuts hurt PN research, and stress the need to keep PN as an important topic for research in the Department of Defense’s medical research program for 2026.
We brought together board members, PN patients, doctors, researchers and staff to meet with Congress representatives from nine states. Biomedical research has always had bipartisan support. We want to keep that support strong, so we met with representatives from both the Republican and Democratic parties. We had 21 meetings in total.
Advocacy Day formal recommendations
During our meetings with Congressional staffers, we asked for three things to help continue funding PN research and eventually find better treatments and cures:
- Renew the PRMRP designation of “peripheral neuropathy” in the fiscal year 2026 Defense Appropriations Act
- Appropriate not less than $48.9 billion for NIH in fiscal year 2026
- Include report language in the fiscal year 2026, Labor-Health and Human Services-Education Act directing NIH to increase and better coordinate PN research among its institutes.
What’s next?
We are hopeful about the future of PN research. We believe that by continuing to raise awareness about PN, we can help more people understand the disease and find better treatments and ways to prevent it.
Our work doesn’t stop after Advocacy Day! We will keep building relationships with people in Washington and have more meetings in the future to bring even more supporters into the fight for PN. Want to reach out to your Senators and show your support for advances in PN and biomedical research? Find their contact info by state.
Learn more about our efforts and get involved in future campaigns.
