The Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) is part of the US Army and Department of Defense. It manages over $1 billion in funding per year for high-impact innovative medical R&D. For each of its programs, Congress specifies the focus, and CDMRP, together with experts in salient fields, defines a research strategy and way to competitively select projects in that area to receive funding.

Dr. Sarah Fontaine will speak about the goals of the CDMRP neuroscience programs. She serves at the CDMRP as Program Manager for Peer-Reviewed Alzheimer’s Research Program, Program Manager for Neurotrauma, and the Portfolio lead for Traumatic Brain Injury for the Traumatic Brain Injury Psychological Health Research Program. Prior to joining CDMRP, she was the Scientific Officer at Ripple Effect where she worked on spinal cord injury and Traumatic Brain Injury, and she led research teams at the Sanders-Brown Center on Aging. Dr. Fontaine earned her PhD at the University of Bath and was a post-doctoral fellow at the University of South Florida.