In This Issue of The Research Advocate
From Washington
Supercommittee's Failure to Act Means Big Cuts to Discretionary Spending
Obama Honors Researchers, Innovators at White House
IOM Roundtable Releases Update Report
From Research!America
Research!America Event Examines Role of PDPs in Improving Health Globally
Research!America Signs Onto Letter Concerning FDA Conflict of Interest Policy
Advocacy & Action
Global Health R&D Advocacy
Regular Features
Member Spotlight: McLaughlin Research Institute
President's Message
Special Thanks to New and Renewing Research!America Alliance Members
In the News
Download the entire December 2011 Research Advocate as a PDF.
Research!America Event Examines Role of PDPs in Improving Health Globally
Research!America, in partnership with Aeras, International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, International Partnership for Microbicides and OneWorld Health, hosted a Capitol Hill briefing November 15 on the role of product development partnerships (PDPs) in global health R&D. The event was cosponsored by Reps. Brian Bilbray (R-CA) and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD).
Bilbray acknowledged that the health challenges ahead of us will require sustained investment in the R&D process from both the public and private sectors, and he called for bipartisan support for both funding streams.
"We can't spend time patting ourselves on the backs," Bilbray said. "[While we can't] forget to celebrate our successes, we must continue to look at the challenges."
He declared the public and private collaborative network essential, saying without the basic research-or what he called the "sea plankton"-there would be no venture capital or opportunity to invest in the "krill."
"We must create the opportunity for people to invest their funds," he said, "not just for the next iPhone, but for the next breakthrough cancer treatment. Otherwise we just have good intentions without good solutions."
Mary Woolley, president and CEO of Research!America, moderated the discussion between panelists Ann Ginsberg, MD, PhD, vice president of Scientific Affairs at Aeras; Brid Devlin, PhD, executive vice president of Product Development at the International Partnership for Microbicides (IPM); Eugenio de Hostos, PhD, director of Research and Pre-Clinical Development at OneWorld Health; and Steve Fling, PhD, site director of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) Neutralizing Antibodies Center at The Scripps Research Institute.
Woolley's opening remarks emphasized the role of health research as a major driver of the American economy and a key factor in our country's global leadership.
The panelists discussed how the nonprofit PDP model speeds medical progress on diseases like HIV/AIDS, TB, malaria and diarrheal diseases. PDPs play a vital role in accelerating the research and development of critical health technologies like vaccines, drugs and diagnostics. The model allows risk sharing but also the sharing of technical resources and scientific expertise.
In helping to solve one of the world's greatest health challenges through the PDP model, Ginsberg said, "Using business practices, we are combining the public health need and expertise wherever we can find it. Ten years ago, there were no candidates and now there are 12 TB vaccine candidates in the R&D pipeline. [This is] the first time in history that so many TB vaccines have gotten so far" in the development process.
A new, more effective TB vaccine could reach the market as early as 2020 and has the potential to greatly reduce the 1.4 million lives lost to TB each year.
"This," Ginsberg said, "could not have happened without the PDP model."
Supercommittee's Failure to Act Means Big Cuts to Discretionary Spending
The congressional supercommittee has been unable to reach a compromise and has missed the deadline for releasing a deficit-reduction proposal. As a result, an across-the-board sequestration will be triggered that will slash discretionary spending by about 7%. These cuts, however, will not take effect until January 2013.
Cuts of this magnitude are devastating to science and health research. These cuts will further endanger our nation's competitiveness, delay the delivery of life-saving treatments to patients, and discourage young researchers. Advocacy is needed now more than ever to protect the National Institutes of Health and other agencies from cuts that could set the research community back by a decade or more.
Last week, Congress passed and the president signed the first of the so-called minibus packages, which included appropriations for the National Science Foundation and the Food and Drug Administration for FY12. Science fared well in the spending legislation, with NSF receiving an increase of $173 million and the FDA receiving an increase of $50 million. These increases are a vast improvement over spending levels previously proposed by Congress.
At the time of this writing it is not clear when a Labor-HHS bill (which contains funding for the NIH, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality) will be brought up for floor votes. There has been some discussion that the bill may be introduced as part of a larger spending plan that would bundle together the remaining appropriations bills. The government is currently funded under a continuing resolution through December 16, which requires across-the-board spending reductions of 1.5%.
CPH Foundation Update
The Campaign for Public Health Foundation's new blog is a sounding board for those who passionately support disease control and prevention efforts.
The posts will focus on public health-related topics and agencies. We will delve into federal spending, highlight programs with solid outcomes, explore national prevention-related policies and report on specific, research-based disease prevention efforts working to keep us safe and healthy. The goal of the blog is to serve as a resource for colleagues in the field and to help educate the public, policy makers and the media about what is happening in this important area of the health field. To learn more, visit the blog at http://cphfoundation.tumblr.com.
The CPH Foundation is open to having guest authors post relevant stories on their blog. Please contact Karl Moeller at KarlM@CPHFoundation.org to learn more or to suggest a future topic.
Obama Honors Researchers, Innovators at White House
President Barack Obama hosted a ceremony at the White House to celebrate the 2010 winners of the National Medal of Science Laureates and National Medal of Technology and Innovation Laureates. Among the 12 honored, four are directly or indirectly involved with medical research: Jacqueline Barton, PhD, of the California Institute of Technology; Ralph Brinster, VMD, PhD, of the University of Pennsylvania; Shu Chien, MD, PhD, of the University of California, San Diego; and Rudolf Jaenisch, MD, of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research.
"Today's honorees have made a bigger difference in our lives than most of us will ever realize," Obama said at the event. "When we fill up our cars, talk on our cell phones or take a lifesaving drug, we don't always think about the ideas and the effort that made it all possible. We don't always ask ourselves how many sleepless nights went by and how many family dinners were sacrificed. But the folks behind me-they know. They worked those long nights. They made those sacrifices. They took on those challenges and ran those experiments and devoted their lives to expanding the reach of human understanding."
IOM Roundtable Releases Update Report
The Institute of Medicine's Roundtable on Value & Science-Driven Health Care has released an update report, detailing the activities the group has undertaken.
The roundtable, chaired by Mark McClellan, MD, PhD, of the Brookings Institution and a Research!America board member, aims to improve both the efficiency and effectiveness of health care by putting the latest and most relevant information into the hands of clinicians involved in patient care. Members of the roundtable include Elizabeth Nabel, MD, president of Brigham and Women's Hospital and a Research!America board member, as well as emeritus board members William Novelli of Georgetown University and Reed Tuckson, MD, of UnitedHealth Group.
To view the report, visit www.iom.edu/Activities/Quality/VSRT.aspx.
Research!America Signs Onto Letter Concerning FDA Conflict of Interest Policy
Research!America
and 76 other organizations have signed onto a letter asking the Senate to
revise conflict of interest statutes as they apply to the Food and Drug Administration.
The letter, sent to Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA) and Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY)—the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee—and other members of the HELP Committee, refers to Special Government Employees, particularly those on FDA Advisory Committees. Current policy has "resulted in a system that is out of balance to the point that conflict avoidance is the primary driver of who serves on Advisory Committees, regardless of the extent of the conflict, the uniqueness of their expertise, or the government's need for their services." The letter added that though measures to prevent conflicts of interest are necessary, SGEs in FDA are already covered by policies in effect for all employees of the executive branch.
Research Australia Honors 2011 Award Winners
Researchers,
scientists and government officials were among the 160 guests on hand for Research Australia's 2011 Awards ceremony, which honored some of that
country's most prominent voices in science, advocacy and philanthropy. The
event was held at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne.
In all, eight awards were handed out: Simran Dhaliwal was named the 2011 Research Australia National Youth Ambassador; Oliver Baumann, PhD, of the University of Queensland, was awarded the Griffith University Discovery Award; Doug Hilton, PhD, of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research was awarded the Leadership and Innovation Award; David Jones received the Leadership in Corporate Giving award; the Sylvia & Charles Viertel Charitable Foundation was awarded for its leadership in philanthropy; Stephen Reeder, PhD, was awarded the Bupa Advocacy Award; and 1996 Nobel laureate Peter Doherty, PhD, was given the Research Australia Lifetime Achievement Award.
Additionally, one new award made its debut: The Peter Wills Medal, which was awarded to John Shine, PhD, retiring executive director of the Garvan Institute of Medical Research.
"We are pleased to have such a strong showing of our community this year; to us this represents a real coming together in what has been at times a difficult year for the sector," Elizabeth Foley, CEO of Research Australia, told the crowd. "With the threat of funding cuts and the general economic climate presenting many challenges, we feel it is all the more important to celebrate our many successes."
Member Spotlight: McLaughlin Research Institute
Just east of the Rocky
Mountains lies Great Falls, MT, and the McLaughlin Research Institute. Despite
its location-a three-hour drive to both of the state's research universities,
neither of which has a medical school-MRI has thrived for nearly six decades.
The institute hosts five research groups that focus on genetic susceptibility
to several neurodegenerative diseases.
Prior to his death in 2007, Ernst Eichwald, MD-founder of what would become the McLaughlin Research Institute-wondered about the future of small science during a lecture at MRI. Perhaps its time had passed, Eichwald said, but it would always be a place where curiosity, flexibility and fun can thrive.
That still rings true today; MRI's director and senior scientist, George A. Carlson, PhD, recounts the ways small science works for MRI, like being nimble and having the ability to recruit scientists without layers of approval and-unlike at large universities- teaching commitments.
"We can change direction very quickly," Carlson said.
And Eichwald's influence is still felt today. His work with mouse models continues; Carlson is an expert in mouse neurogenetics. As the faculty grew, MRI wound up with its current roster of experts in neurodegenerative diseases who all use mouse models.
Being a Research!America member helps inform Carlson's advocacy for McLaughlin and for research in general.
"Talking to my congressman ... it was very helpful to be armed with material specific to Montana," Carlson said. "And he appreciated that."
For more, visit http://mri.montana.edu.
President's Message
Thanks to a confluence of factors-supercommittee failure included-the health of the American research enterprise is increasingly fragile. We are at a high-risk time for the conduct of science, as well as for the economy. Despite overwhelming evidence of the connection between the two, and the reality of other nations' increasing investments, few U.S. decision makers appear to see the link and are ready to act on it. Our task is to drive that understanding and the action to match in the coming weeks as our elected officials try to slash the deficit.
Because supporting research is not a divisive issue, we aren't hearing the presidential candidates talk about it. That's a missed opportunity. Supporting research for health is a vote-getter, given that people value their health above all else. Moreover, voters value STEM education and the kind of good jobs that go with science-all it takes for an aspiring leader is to connect the dots. Our new poll data, which will be released this month, illustrates these points.
We have invited the candidates to give us their views on these issues and will post their responses soon on our Your Candidates-Your Health website. Response rates for this voter education initiative track highest in presidential election years; they will track highest of all in 2012 if you-stakeholders in research-speak out by the thousands in urging them to do so. The presidential primaries will start before you see my next column; won't you take a moment now to serve the public's interest-by no means just your own if you are a researcher-by getting involved? Please don't wait another minute.
Advocacy & Action
Your Candidates-Your Health Advocacy Alert
As the presidential campaigns heats up, it's time to find out where the candidates stand on health research issues. Research!America has launched our award-winning voter education initiative, Your Candidates-Your Health 2012. This initiative gets candidates on the record with their views on health research and displays their responses to a questionnaire on our website.
We need your help TODAY to reach out to the presidential candidates and ask them to complete this short questionnaire. Health and medical research are critical issues for our nation, and we must know where candidates stand. Send a message to the campaigns right away. Together, we can put the spotlight on health research in the 2012 elections. Like this alert on Facebook, and feel free to like our Facebook page and share it with your networks.
Media Matters
Your Candidates-Your Health
POLITICO Pro Health Care announced the launch of the Your Candidates-Your Health national voter education initiative in its morning newsletter in November. The initiative will ask "President [Barack] Obama and the Republican presidential candidates to respond to a timely questionnaire on health research issues. The three-page questionnaire asks about costs, research, jobs and prevention and wellness."
Mary Woolley, president and CEO of Research!America, explained why Your Candidates-Your Health will help generate a national conversation on the future of federal health research funding in a CQ Healthbeat article. "We've been struck by how little attention has been paid" in the presidential debates to the role of research, Woolley said. "Research and development should be included in discussions around economic growth since they bolster job creation and international competitiveness."
Ohio op-ed touts importance of medical research
The Columbus (Ohio)
Dispatch published an op-ed by Roderick J. McDavis, PhD, president of Ohio
University, which describes how medical
research "improves the human condition" and strengthens the state economy "through
the startup of local companies." With funding for the National Institutes of Health and the National
Science Foundation at risk, he encourages voters to
tell state and federal policy makers that medical research is good for the
economy.
Cancer research on life support
Frank L. Meyskens, MD, a professor at the School of Medicine at the University of California, Irvine, wrote an op-ed published by The Orange County (CA) Register. "To save lives, we must continue to invest federal dollars. We must urge our policymakers to stand up for the medical science supported by NIH and NCI and preserve funding to research institutions," Meyskens wrote. "Investing in cancer research will allow scientists and clinicians throughout the country the ability to continue their efforts toward scientific breakthroughs, new drug discoveries and better knowledge of the mechanisms of how certain cancers can be prevented, managed and cured."
The supercommittee challenge
Prior to the supercommittee meltdown, Research!America's chair, former Illinois congressman John Edward Porter, told Kaiser Health News that the members must take bold, decisive action to help reduce the deficit. His quote was included in an article examining the committee's to-do list. "Our nation is at a crisis point. The question for the members of the supercommittee is whether they will have profiles in courage or profiles in cowardice. Sequestration would be devastating for medical research funded by the National Institutes of Health and prevention programs offered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."
Setting budget priorities
As part of a series of articles about deficit reduction, Science Magazine asked Porter to share his views on how to trim spending on biomedical research. We need to boost funding, not slash it, he said, praising the recent House appropriations bill adding $1 billion to the $31 billion budget of the National Institutes of Health. But he said it's not nearly enough to keep the U.S. in first place as a science and technology power.
Global Health R&D Advocacy
As we commemorated World AIDS Day on December 1, the global health community recognizes remarkable progress in treatment and prevention in the past three years while acknowledging the challenges that remain in the fight against AIDS. Although the rates of newly infected people have declined over the past decade, rates of new infection still greatly outpace rates at which infected people are able to access treatment. For those the World Health Organization have deemed sick enough to require urgent treatment, only half-seven million people in all-actually receive care.
UNAIDS, the United Nations agency devoted to providing universal access to HIV prevention, treatment and care, reported over Thanksgiving that rates of new HIV infection have been steady over the past five years, with approximately 2.7 million newly infected people each year. In 33 countries, rates of new infection have declined; it is hoped that future rates of infection may be even lower, as a breakthrough study this year found that treatment reduced transmission from an infected person to their non-infected partner by as much as 96%. In Central Asia and Eastern Europe, however, the number of people living with HIV rose 250% during 2001-2010, and death rates continue to rise in those areas even as they stabilize in other regions.
With an estimated 34 million people worldwide living with HIV, this year's commemoration of World AIDS Day reminds us of the scope and impact this pandemic has had on countless lives, the hope for new preventative measures and ultimately a cure, and the hard challenges that lie ahead to provide adequate prevention and treatment to all who require it.
Special Thanks to Renewing Research!America Alliance Members
New Members
The
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Renewing members
Allen Institute for Brain Science
American
Cancer Society
American
Diabetes Association
American
Pediatric Society
American
Sociological Association
BIND
Biosciences
Bristol-Myers
Squibb
Chicago
Council on Science and Technology
Dartmouth
Medical School
Foundation Fighting Blindness
Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers
Memorial
Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
National
Hispanic Health Foundation
Nell
Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University
New
York University
Northeast
Ohio Medical University
Pennsylvania
State University College of Medicine
The
Society for Women's Health Research
Tufts
University
The
University of Arizona
University
of Iowa Carver College of Medicine
University
of Miami
University
of South Florida
Not yet a member? Join Research!America today at www.researchamerica.org/become_member.
Download the entire December 2011 Research Advocate as a PDF.