Importance of Peripheral Neuropathy: Since 2019, the Foundation for Peripheral Neuropathy has been actively engaged in a campaign to increase federal funding for peripheral neuropathy research. We had an extraordinary breakthrough in fiscal year 2021, when Congress included “peripheral neuropathy” as an eligible condition for research funding from the Department of Defense’s Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program (PRMRP), and Congress has renewed this designation for fiscal years 2022 and 2023.
Recognizing the Importance of Peripheral Neuropathy in Advocacy Efforts
Building on this success, the Foundation has turned its attention to deepening its relationship with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the world’s largest funding agency for biomedical research. We are pleased to report that, thanks to our advocacy efforts, the Senate Committee on Appropriations took an important step in recognizing the importance of peripheral neuropathy research and the need for NIH to take a more coordinated and focused approach on the condition. On July 27, 2023, the Committee approved its version of the fiscal year 2024 Labor-Health and Human Services-Education Appropriations Act and included the following language in the report that accompanies the bill:
Peripheral Neuropathy.—The Committee is concerned about the lack of research funding for peripheral neuropathy, a condition that affects 30 million Americans and can cause considerable pain and disability in those diagnosed with the disease. The Committee encourages NIH to develop a coordinated approach to better understand the causes of and find potential new treatments for peripheral neuropathy. Among other things, research could focus on developing a natural history database, collecting serial blood biomarkers and creating a tissue bank, and identifying genetic risk factors and other strategies to facilitate the diagnosis and treatment of various types of peripheral neuropathy. The Committee also encourages NIH to support research on idiopathic peripheral neuropathy, which affects 10 million Americans.
This accomplishment coincides with the Appropriations Committee approving its version of the FY24 Defense Appropriations bill on the same day, which would renew the “peripheral neuropathy” designation in the PRMRP for another year! We are confident that both accomplishments will help the Foundation for Peripheral Neuropathy strengthen its relationships with these key funding agencies and ultimately lead to more groundbreaking research on this debilitating condition.
More Information
For more information on our advocacy campaign, please visit our webpage.