In This Issue of The Research Advocate
From Washington
Stem Cell Action Network Launches as Trial Nears VerdictPolicy Update
National Medals of Science Awarded
From Research!America
2010 Garfield Award Given to Frank Lichtenberg
Surveying the Post-Election Landscape
Advocacy & Action
Global Health R&D Advocacy
Regular Features
Member Spotlight: Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research
Research!America Adds Value for its Members
President's Message
Special Thanks to New and Renewing Research!America Alliance Members
In the News
Download the entire December 2010 Research Advocate as a PDF.
2010 Garfield Award Given to Frank Lichtenberg
Frank Lichtenberg, PhD, of Columbia Business School, is the recipient of the 2010 Garfield Economic Impact Award.
Lichtenberg’s study, “The Effect of New Cancer Drug Approvals on the Life Expectancy of American Cancer Patients, 1978-2004,” was published in Economics of Innovation and New Technology. The study found that cancer drugs in the past 40 years have helped patients live a year longer for around $7,000, far less than estimates of what Americans would pay for an extra life-year.
He was presented with the award during a December 2 reception on Capitol Hill. Lichtenberg also participated in a panel discussion with John Seffrin, PhD, CEO of the American Cancer Society and a Research!America board member, and Sherry A. M. Glied, PhD, assistant secretary for Planning and Evaluation at the Department of Health and Human Services and the 2004 Garfield Award winner. David Leonhardt of The New York Times moderated the discussion and Eugene Garfield, PhD, the award’s namesake, also spoke at the event.
The award is supported by a grant from Merck & Co., Inc., a Research!America member, along with the Eugene Garfield Foundation and Research!America. Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) served as congressional honorary host for the reception.
Established in 2002, the Garfield Economic Impact Award annually recognizes the outstanding work of one or more early-career economists who demonstrate how medical and health research impacts the economy. Over the years, Garfield awardees have become well recognized by their peers, policy makers and influential media.
See this month’s insert about the award and its recipients.
Surveying the Post-Election Landscape
As part of the Your Candidates -Your Health voter education initiative, Research!America held a post-election analysis November 16 at the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington, DC.
The event marked the release of Research!America's 11th annual America Speaks poll data summary, supported by the United Health Foundation.
Speakers included former Congressman John Edward Porter, Research!America's chair; Stacie Propst, PhD, Research!America's former vice president of science policy and outreach; Mary Woolley, president of Research!America; and Albert H. Teich, PhD, director of science and policy programs at AAAS.
They tackled tough questions: What can the advocacy community expect from the 112th Congress? What strategies will ensure research remains a funding priority?
Porter warned that the medical research community will face great challenges with the new Congress.
"We have to plan how we're going to convince Members of Congress to make funding for research a high priority," he said.
The road ahead will be difficult, Porter warned.
"Yes, it's a difficult environment," he said. "But let's not simply say this is something that we can't do. It is something we can do. And we have the best product to sell-we simply all need to get behind it and make it happen."
AAAS is a Research!America member.
Stem Cell Action Network Launches as Trial Nears Verdict
Research!America and more than 30 other organizations are supporting the Stem Cell Action Network, an initiative of the Genetics Policy Institute, a Research!America member.
SCAN encourages the public and the research community to contact their elected representatives and voice support for protecting funding for embryonic stem cell research. Visit www.stemcellactionnetwork.org for talking points and templates to send to Congress.
The new coalition complements at the grassroots level the work of the Coalition for Medical Research-of which Research!America is a member. CAMR continues to push for legislation to protect federal funding for ESCR.
In the courts, briefs were filed ahead of a December 6 hearing in which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit heard arguments concerning the August shutdown of federally-funded ESCR.
Policy Update
To make health research a top priority in the FY2012 budget discussions, Research!America is urging $35 billion in National Institutes of Health funding. These funds are critical to maintaining our current research capacity, stimulating our economy and ensuring that progress in medical innovation continues.
According to Research!America chair John Edward Porter, a former Congressman, "It will take motivated, committed people in Washington and motivated, committed people at home" to make Members of Congress understand that the foundation of America's economy is science, technology, innovation and research.
Research!America encourages members to reach out to local talk radio and newspaper editorial boards and to meet with their delegation's district offices about the importance of research funding.
To make research for health a priority for the 112th Congress, the community must come together, share ideas and make their unified voices heard on Capitol Hill. Send us your thoughts on messages and strategies for reaching out to Congress and the public in 2011 to advocacy@researchamerica.org.
National Medals of Science Awarded
Medical researchers Susan L. Lindquist, PhD; Mortimer Mishkin, PhD, and Stanley B. Prusiner, MD, were among 16 scientists to receive the National Medal of Science.
The annual awards are administered for the White House by the National Science Foundation.
"The extraordinary accomplishments of these scientists, engineers and inventors are a testament to American industry and ingenuity," President Barack Obama said. "Their achievements have redrawn the frontiers of human knowledge while enhancing American prosperity."
Lindquist works at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Mishkin, at the National Institutes of Health, and Prusiner at the University of California, San Francisco. The Whitehead Institute and UCSF are both Research!America members.
Advocacy & Action
Final decisions about the president's FY2012 budget recommendations are being made now, making it a critical time to take action. Cuts to the entire federal budget have been proposed-including health research agencies. Please remind the president that a robust investment in science is critical to creating jobs, improving health, encouraging innovation and revitalizing the economy.
Take action now. Urge President Obama to maintain his commitment to "restore science to its rightful place" by proposing and fighting for $35 billion in NIH funding in FY2012.
Member Spotlight: Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research
Located in picturesque Horse Shoe, NC, the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research studies the signaling involved in cell growth. By focusing on a particular facet of that signaling-molecules called protein kinases that transmit the signal from outside the cell to inside-BRIMR can better understand the rise of cancer cells within the body.
As a student, Robert Roskoski, Jr., MD, PhD, was turned on to research out of an abundance of curiosity. The study of mechanisms in organic chemistry as an undergrad led to further study of biochemical mechanisms in graduate school.
After leaving a position with the LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans, he knew that he wanted to continue his work as a researcher. He found a place to work in western North Carolina, not far from Asheville: Horse Shoe, located about 40 miles east of the Great Smoky Mountains.
Along with the scenic views to be had in Horse Shoe, there is serious work going on at BRIMR. The focus of their study has been a protein kinase called epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor which, if overactive, can cause lung cancer and other tumors. By researching Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs, BRIMR now has a greater understanding of how the EGF receptor can be inhibited. However, this is only one piece of the puzzle, since there are typically multiple signaling pathways involved in causing cancer, Roskoski said.
And he sees benefits large and small to BRIMR's membership with Research!America: Its website, which features profiles of selected life scientists, receives traffic from Research!America's.
"As Research!America espouses the fundamental importance of medical research for the benefit of all," Roskoski said, "the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research performs broad-based and fundamental medical research in keeping with this mission."
Visit www.brimr.org for more.
Research!America Adds Value for Our Members
Research!America stands on a reputation of innovative advocacy that generates results serving our mission and the interests of our members:
- Our annual Garfield Economic Impact Award recognizes early-career economists that powerfully link medical research and the economic benefits that research provides. According to former U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, MD, ScD, Garfield Award winners "clearly and unequivocally illustrate that research for health is worth the cost."
- Public Health Thank You Day promotes a time for all Americans to take a moment and thank those who work in public health. This helps bring awareness to public health and how society benefits from its study.
- America Speaks, our annual recap of a year's worth of polling, provides data that allows our members to supplement their advocacy with proof of public support.
- Research!America's briefings on Capitol Hill help us showcase to lawmakers and their staffs the importance of keeping funding for health research a top priority.
President's Message
Research!America and all our members must make the economic case for research in the context of the challenge of reducing debt while growing the economy. Conversation stimulated by the suggestions of the two debt commissions reveals the complexities of acting in our nation's best interests. I am struck by former Sen. Pete Domenici's recommendation to escalate consideration of our economic challenge to that of a war effort-mobilize the machinery of economic combat: Stoke the coals of economic growth by firing up innovation. Exempt science from cuts in discretionary spending and lower corporate tax rates to improve global competitiveness for our industries. As a recent UNESCO report makes clear, other nations are out-investing the U.S. in terms of percent of GDP devoted to R&D and are increasingly out-performing us in terms of translating discovery to productivity and output. Reversing these trends won't happen unless our community speaks out.
Wondering how to get involved? We have tools on our website to help make the case for heightened investment in research via evidence of return on investment to date. Our new poll data booklet, our state-by-state statistics on impact of local investment in research, our recently-released yearly report of investment in research in the context of total health expenditure and more, can be sent to your elected representatives, the media and your own networks. It's time for us all to mobilize and commit to overcoming the twin challenges of growing national debt and stalled economic growth by putting R&D at the forefront of recovery.
Media Matters
Post-Election Outlook for Science
Will the new Members of Congress follow through on campaign pledges to put a cap on discretionary spending in 2011? If so, will federal research agencies be affected? Bloomberg News reported that if the incoming House implemented its campaign pledge, funding for NIH and other agencies would roll back to FY08 levels.
Research!America's chair, former U.S. Rep. John Edward Porter, appeared on the television show BioCentury This Week, to share his thoughts on improving the climate for science and innovation in 2011. "Increasing the NIH budget going forward will require a major effort on behalf of the science community, the business community, the American people and the administration," he said. "In the end, there will be spending. And if we don't make the investments in science, technology, innovation and research now, we will lose our lead in these areas."
Research!America President Mary Woolley told The New Scientist that it is important for the new Congress to see science and research spending as an investment in America's economy rather than a cost.
In other interviews, Research!America told Science News, MyHealthNewsDaily and LiveScience that biomedical research funding has historically been a bipartisan issue and it should continue to receive support across party lines.
Research!America's Your Candidates-Your Health voter education initiative was featured in Science shortly before Election Day.
Research as a Boon for Jobs and Local Economies
Jay A. Gershen, DDS, PhD, president of the Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy and a Research!America board member, wrote op-eds in The Youngstown (OH) Vindicator, The Canton (OH) Repository and MD News magazine on the growing biomedical and health care industries in Ohio. He said that partnering with advocacy organizations such as Research!America is key to attracting new businesses to Ohio and turning the state into a biomedical hub.
Public Support for Stem Cell Research
Nature Medicine published findings from a new HealthDay-Harris Interactive poll on embryonic stem cell research. The poll findings indicate that a majority of Americans from across the political spectrum support embryonic stem cell research. Woolley was quoted as saying that the American public's support for embryonic stem cell research "underscores the fact that disease and disability are not partisan." She also said that research!America's polling results on stem cell research are very similar to the HealthDay-Harris poll results.
Frieden Discusses Nation's Biggest Health Battles
Thomas R. Frieden, MD, MPH, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, identified what he considers to be America's biggest and most winnable health battles based on public health research, in a Medscape Today interview. He mentioned tobacco usage, which has decreased nationwide but is still prevalent in some parts of the country, as well as the growing obesity epidemic.
Global Health R&D Advocacy
On December 7, leaders from Illinois and the global health R&D community joined federal government officials in Washington, DC, to discuss their individual and collective roles in advancing global health R&D. Research!America convened 25 stakeholders to address the health and economic benefits from U.S. investment in global health R&D-focusing on how such investment impacts Illinois.
Living in the top destination for foreign investment in the Midwest, Illinoisans understand that the state's economy is closely linked with global economies, productivity and well-being. Results from a new Research!America poll show that Illinoisans believe global health research spending is important to Illinois's economy and over 90% of residents believe it is important for Illinois to be a leader in health R&D.
This will be the first in a series of state-focused efforts in which Research!America will showcase how our investment in global health R&D is an economic driver for our own communities-yielding high-paying jobs, attracting business investment and ultimately helping to protect our health, our security and our economy.
Special Thanks to Renewing Research!America Alliance Members
American Pediatric Society
American Sociological Association
Bristol-Myers Squibb
Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
The Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing
Juvenile Diabetes Research International Foundation
Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute
Midwest Nursing Research Society
National Multiple Sclerosis Society
New York Stem Cell Foundation
New York University
Society for Public Health Education
SPARC, The Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition
The Foundation Fighting Blindness
The Society for Women's Health Research
University of California Davis School of Medicine
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
University of Southern California School of Dentistry
Not yet a member? Join Research!America today at www.researchamerica.org/become_member.
Download the entire December 2010 Research Advocate as a PDF.