SCIRP Funding Restored!

Feb 4, 2026

SCIRP Funding Restored!

Jason Stoffer

I’m writing with some pretty great news: the Spinal Cord Injury Research Program (SCIRP) has just been restored to $33M in a Defense Appropriations Act that passed both the House and Senate and was ultimately signed by President Trump last night!

Left to right: Yaz Shah, me and Karen Brunn in Washington D.C. advocating for the restoration of SCIRP a few months ago.

That means a majority of the funding for SCI research - which was completely cut from last year’s Department of Defense budget - has just been restored. While we didn’t get it back to $40 million, $33 million is a lot more than $0!

The bi-weekly meetings that we spearheaded and convened with other SCI organizations along with our continued outreach to federal legislators have helped Save SCIRP from elimination. The unity that you all have brought and the support you’ve given to this effort has made a real difference.

While in D.C. last year, we met with congressional staff responsible for the SCIRP. We also met with staff of allied legislators, like my Senator, Tim Sheehy, who is sponsoring our Congressional Briefing on February 17th.

And - for the first time - spinal cord injury as a condition was newly added for consideration to the Peer Review Medical Research Program (PRMRP). This is a separate program within CDMRP which will allow SCI to be “absorbed” for funding if our stand alone program is ever cut in the future. The PRMRP was not previously an option for them and now exists as another avenue for funding.

This win provides us with great momentum as we prepare to Roll on the Capital in just two weeks, during day three of our 20th Annual Science & Advocacy Symposium in Washington, D.C.. Consider registering here so you can join us if you haven’t already done so.

Let’s keep fighting and raising our voice to restore and expand SCI research at the Federal level!

PS - If you appreciate the time U2FP has invested in this effort to restore SCIRP, mobilizing the SCI community at every level to advocate for these critical funds, consider making a donation today. This was not on our bingo card for 2025 but we knew that doing nothing wasn’t an option. Thanks for all those who have donated their time and resources to this fight. With your help, we’ll continue to keep pressing for better, smarter SCI research funding at the federal level.