Funding for Defense Department medical research into traumatic brain injuries has dropped by more than three-quarters in the last three fiscal years, even as the problem continues to plague U.S. servicemembers.
At issue is the Pentagon-funded program to research detection and treatment of TBIs and to understand psychological health issues, including those that can come with TBIs, such as post-traumatic stress disorder.
Spending on this initiative has dropped from $175 million in fiscal 2024 to $40.5 million in fiscal 2026, and the House’s Defense spending bill for fiscal 2027 would not increase the funding. The House Appropriations Committee approved that bill on June 24.
The drop in funding for research into brain health has received little public attention. But it is one of several Pentagon-funded research areas of vital importance to military personnel that have seen funding cutbacks in the last several years, according to the funding laws, lawmakers and advocates in the medical research community.
TBIs have been called the signature wound of this generation’s wars. Scores more cases have come in since February due to Iran’s ongoing attacks on U.S. bases in the Middle East, on top of injuries that regularly arise from the blasts troops face during training with weapons such as shoulder-fired missiles.
