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Gulf War Illness Research Program

The GWIRP was established in FY94 to study the health effects on service members deployed in the 1991 Persian Gulf War. From FY94 to FY05, the GWIRP was managed by the USAMRMC Military Operational Medicine Research Program (MOMRP). The CDMRP assumed management responsibility for the GWIRP in FY06. Although the GWIRP did not receive funding in FY07, a $10 Million dollar appropriation renewed the program in FY08. The appropriation for FY09 was $8 Million dollars.

Gulf War Illness (GWI) is characterized by persistent symptoms such as chronic headache, widespread pain, cognitive difficulties, unexplained fatigue, gastrointestinal problems, respiratory symptoms, and other abnormalities that are not explained by traditional medical or psychiatric diagnoses. This complex set of chronic symptoms may affect as many as 200,000 veterans of the 1990-1991 Gulf War, of the over 700,000 deployed to that region¹. The GWIRP focuses its funding on innovative projects that have the potential to make a significant impact on GWI, improving the health and lives of affected service members and their families.

¹ - VHA HANDBOOK 1303.02, June 5, 2007.

Funding Opportunities Search Awards Integration Panels Peer Review Participants Congressional Appropriations $15 million in FY06–08 $8 million in FY09 Funding Summary 21 awards in FY06, FY08 Previous Proposals Recommended for Funding

Program Information Paper Gulf War Illness