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House Appropriations Committee Includes $20 million for Defense-funded Melanoma Research

Washington, DC, July 21, 2020 – The Melanoma Research Foundation (MRF) commends the House Appropriations Committee for including $20 million for Department of Defense (DoD)-funded melanoma research in its Fiscal 2021 Department of Defense Appropriations bill. On July 14, 2020, the House Appropriations Committee approved its version of the FY2021 Defense Appropriations bill, along with the $20 million for the Melanoma Research Program (MRP). 

The House Appropriations Committee recommendation is the same as the Fiscal 2020 level for the DoD-funded Melanoma Research Program.   

The MRF and our partners at the Melanoma Research Alliance will continue to work with the Senate Appropriations Committee to include our requested level of $35 million for the MRP in the Senate’s version of the Fiscal 2021 Defense Appropriations bill. 

According to the online journal of the Uniformed Services University, the military’s own medical school, “melanoma is the most significant cancer to affect the active duty military population.” 

As the leading non-profit funders of cutting-edge melanoma science, the MRA and the MRF welcome this continued commitment to advance the field of melanoma research. 

Since 2009, melanoma has been eligible to receive Defense funding through the Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program (PRCRP). While conditions like breast cancer and lung cancer benefited from dedicated funding during this time, melanoma researchers were in competition with over a dozen other cancer types to secure a portion of PRCRP funding. The recommendations of the 2020 Defense Appropriations bill will continue to accelerate the pace of progress and ensure that melanoma research remains a national priority for the protection of service members, veterans and the American public.