United States-Israel PTSD Collaborative Research Act

This bill, the United States-Israel PTSD Collaborative Research Act, would require the Secretary of Defense to run a grant program that funds joint PTSD research between the United States and Israel. Administered through the DoD’s Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury Research Program, with coordination from the VA and the State Department, the program would award grants to eligible United States-based academic or nonprofit entities that partner with Israeli institutions under a joint research agreement. The program would operate under the framework of the US-Israel Binational Science Foundation and could accept gifts to support the grants. Grants would support projects that address PTSD, with reports due to Congress after project completion, and the authority to award grants would sunset seven years after the first grant is awarded. The bill sets out the rationale (findings on PTSD prevalence among veterans and the ongoing need for better treatments) and creates a formal mechanism to foster international collaboration to advance PTSD research and potential therapies. It does not create direct funding for Israeli organizations as grant recipients; instead, US entities would partner with Israeli counterparts and share in the research outcomes.