Sometimes, government abbreviations can make your eyes glaze over. But here are a few letters every Lyme patient should know:

CDMRP stands for Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs. Under its umbrella lies TBDRP, the Tick-Borne Disease Research Program, both overseen by the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD).

TBDRP is pivotal for the Lyme community. Patient representatives play an active role in identifying research priorities and shaping study designs, ensuring that the research directly addresses real-world challenges and unmet needs. This collaborative effort supports the funding of innovative projects to drive meaningful progress.

For instance, in 2024, the program granted funds for a groundbreaking study of neurological Lyme disease using data collected by the MyLymeData patient registry.

Program’s future uncertain

Unfortunately, the future of TBDRP is now uncertain. On March 14, Congress passed the Fiscal Year 2025 Continuing Resolution to fund the government for the rest of the fiscal year. In doing so, they eliminated funding for TBDRP in 2025—nothing, zero, zilch.

In response, the Center for Lyme Action (CLA) has launched a letter-writing campaign urging Congress to restore this essential program for Fiscal Year 2025 and secure $9 million in funding for Fiscal Year 2026.

According to CLA co-founder Bonnie Crater, “CDMRP is the only federal research program that primarily focuses on developing Lyme and tick-borne disease diagnostics and therapies for patients. Because of the quality of this research program, CDMRP funding has an outsized impact on all members of our Lyme community.”

Congress holds the sole authority to fund CDMRP, as these funds are not included in the Executive Branch’s annual budget but are appropriated exclusively by Congress.

Restoring funding is vital to U.S. military readiness—tick-borne diseases are a significant issue for the armed forces. And because biting ticks don’t distinguish between members of the military and everybody else, solving this problem will benefit all of us.

Click here to send your letter to Congress.

TOUCHED BY LYME is written by Dorothy Kupcha Leland, President of LymeDisease.org. She is co-author of Finding Resilience: A Teen’s Journey Through Lyme Disease and of When Your Child Has Lyme Disease: A Parent’s Survival Guide. Contact her at dleland@lymedisease.org.