In 2017, Congress appropriated $10 million to establish the Kidney Cancer Research Program (KCRP), managed by the Department of Defense. A 12-member panel composed of 10 researchers and two patient advocates made its final recommendations for funding on April 9th. Jay Bitkower, the President of ACKC, served on this panel in recognition of the fact that ACKC was the advocacy organization that lobbied for the $10 million funding. After a lengthy review process, the money will be awarded to researchers within the next few months. $10 million represents a 30% increase in the entire combined NIH and DoD funding for kidney cancer research over last year’s budget.

In March of this year, the U.S. Congress passed, and President Trump signed the Defense Appropriations Act for the current federal fiscal year, FY2018 which includes an increase in funding for the KCRP to $15 million. This 50% increase in funding is due to the overwhelming response by the scientific community to the KCRP this year, with over 200 applications having been submitted, way beyond expectations.

For FY2019, which commences on October 1, 2018, ACKC is asking for an additional increase in the KCRP budget to $20 million.

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