ABOUT

the Gulf War Illness Research Program

(GWIRP-CDMRP, DOD)

PREPARED BY: VETERANS FOR COMMON SENSE. Last Updated March 21, 2016

The Gulf War Illness Research Program (GWIRP), one of several military-related programs in
the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP) within the U.S. Department
of Defense (DoD), was initiated by Congress in federal fiscal year 2006 (FY06) to provide
support for medical research of exceptional scientific merit related to the health effects of
deployment on U.S. Warfighters during the 1991 Persian Gulf War.1

GWIRP Vision: Improve the health and lives of veterans who have Gulf War Illness.1
GWIRP Mission: Fund innovative Gulf War Illness research to identify effective
treatments, improve definition and diagnosis, and better understand pathobiology and
symptoms.1
Treatment-focused; Peer-Reviewed; Research is competitively selected. 1
CDMRPs are specifically funded in each annual Defense Appropriations Act.

About Gulf War Illness (GWI): GWI is characterized by multiple, diverse symptoms that
typically include chronic headache, widespread pain, cognitive difficulties, debilitating fatigue,
gastrointestinal problems, respiratory symptoms, sleep problems, and other abnormalities that
could not be explained by established medical diagnoses or standard laboratory tests. The
population of Veterans affected by GWI is a subset of the nearly 700,000 U.S. Warfighters who
served during the 1990-1991 Gulf War. Studies indicate that approximately 25-32% of Gulf War
Veterans continue to experience symptoms associated with their deployment.1

About the GWIRP: The GWIRP focuses on funding innovative, competitively peer-reviewed
research to (1) provide a better understanding of the pathobiology underlying GWI, (2)
identify objective markers (biomarkers) for improved diagnosis, and (3) to develop treatments
for the complex of GWI symptoms and their underlying causes. [The] Vision is to make a
significant impact on GWI and improve the health and lives of affected Veterans and their
families.1

History: The GWIRP began with FY06 funding in response to a demonstrated need for a
treatment-focused GWI medical research program outside of VA, which had focused its
research on stress, psychological issues, and causation complexities while failing to prioritize
research to find evidence-based treatments to improve GWI veterans health and lives.

Need for the GWIRP: Reports by the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine
(IOM)2 (pp. 10, 260-64) and the Congressionally-mandated VA Research Advisory Committee on Gulf
War Veterans Illnesses (RAC) 3 (pp. 1, 4, 5, 13, 78, 83) emphasized that effective treatments for GWI can

likely be found with a sustained federal research effort.

The RAC,3 the more than 50 Independent Budget Veterans Service Organizations (IBVSOs),4
scientist GWIRP panelists,1,5 and consumer reviewers serving with the GWIRP1,5 have expressed
strong support for the GWIRP to improve the health and lives of veterans suffering from GWI.

According to the RAC, Scientific research . . . supports and further substantiates . . . that Gulf
War illness is a serious physical disease, affecting at least 175,000 veterans of the 1990-1991
Gulf War, that resulted from hazardous exposures in the Gulf War theater.3 (p.1) Studies
reviewed found an elevated incidence of Lou Gehrigs disease (ALS)3(pp.23-25) among Gulf War

veterans as well as significantly elevated rates of death due to brain cancer3(pp.23-26) among
those who were most exposed to the release of nerve gas by the destruction of the Khamisiyah
Iraqi arms depot.
In addition to improving the health of 1991 Gulf War veterans, important discoveries made by
the GWIRP may also help protect current and future U.S. military service members at risk of
similar toxic exposures. (RAC 2014, pp. 1, 4, 5, 13, 78, 83; IOM 2010, pp. 10, 260-64.)

GWIRPs unique focus:
Treatment-focused a model for other environmental injuries and Toxic Wounds.
Unique in the federal government.
CDMRP funds any qualified researcher, while VA funds only VA researchers
Includes Consumer (patient) reviewers1,5, who offer focus, urgency, and impact insight
Special emphasis on interdisciplinary and inter-institutional research collaborations to
better solve complex issues than single researchers working alone.
GWIRP is relatively small by federal research funding standards.
Supported by: American Legion; AMVETS; Association of the U.S. Navy (AUSN); Burnpits360;
Disabled American Veterans (DAV); Lung Cancer Alliance; National Gulf War Resource Center
(NGWRC); National Vietnam & Gulf War Veterans Coalition (NVGWVC); Paralyzed Veterans of
America (PVA); Sergeant Sullivan Circle; Toxic Wounds Task Force; Veterans for Common Sense
(VCS); Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW); Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA).
The FY15 Independent Budget Veterans Service Organizations (IBVSOs, composed of AMVETS,
DAV, PVA, VFW, and 53 other organizations that serve veterans) stated that the GWI CDMRP,
has made great strides in the short time it has been operating.5 (pp. 126-27)
Current GWIRP Funding Level (FY16): $20 million; Past annual funding levels:1
FY06: $5m
FY08: $10m
FY09, FY10, FY11: $8m
FY12: $10m
FY13, FY14, FY15, FY16: $20m

1 Gulf War Illness Research Program (GWIRP), Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program, U.S
Department of Defense, Program Website. Retrieved Jan. 24, 2016, http://cdmrp.army.mil/gwirp
2 Institute of Medicine (IOM), National Academy of Sciences, Gulf War and Health, Volume 8: Update of Health
Effects of Serving in the Gulf War, Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2010. Retrieved Jan. 24, 2016,
www.nap.edu/catalog/12835/gulf-war-and-health-volume-8-update-of-health-effects
3 Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses (RAC), U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gulf
War Illness and the Health of Gulf War Veterans: Research Update and Recommendations, 2009-2013.
Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, May 2014. Retrieved Jan. 24, 2016, www.va.gov/RACGWVI/RACReport2014Final.pdf
4 Independent Budget Veterans Service Organizations (IBVSOs), The Independent Budget for the Department of
Veterans Affairs: Fiscal Year 2015. Retrieved Feb. 26, 2015, www.independentbudget.org/2015/IB_2015.pdf.
5 GWIRP, Program booklet, Gulf War Illness Research Program. Ft. Detrick, MD: Congressionally Directed Medical
Research Program, U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command, U.S. Department of Defense; April 2014.
Retrieved Feb. 26, 2015, http://cdmrp.army.mil/gwirp/pbks/gwirppbk2014.pdf.