In This Issue
From Washington
Recovery Legislation to Include Research
Spotlight: Member of Congress
NIH Releases Director's Report, New Information on Funding
IOM: More Funding Needed for Global Health Research
From Research!America
25 New Global Health Ambassadors, Eager to Work with Legislators
New Research Textbook: Chapter on Advocacy by Research!America CEO
In the News
Regular Features
President's Message
Member Spotlight
Recovery Legislation to Include Research
It is clear that science and research are a priority for President Barack Obama and the 111th Congress. Obama's Administration has been working closely with leaders in the House of Representatives and Senate on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which is expected to contain billions in funding for research.
In December, Research!America took the lead on advocating for research to improve health in the economic recovery package, recommending $8.6 billion for the National Institutes of Health, $1.4 billion for the National Science Foundation, $1 billion for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and $97 million for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to the Obama-Biden transition team and congressional leaders.
Long-time NIH champion Sen. Arlen Specter (PA) is calling for $10 billion for NIH in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Research!America supports Specter's bold action and is encouraging all research advocates to do the same.
The House of Representatives unveiled its version of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on January 15 and the Senate followed suit on January 23. Both bills include an increase of $3.5 billion for NIH to fund research, upgrades to university research facilities and equipment, and repair and improvement of the NIH campus. At press time, Specter planned to introduce an amendment to add $6.5 billion to bring the total for NIH to $10 billion.
The House and Senate bills both also contain $1.1 billion for comparative effectiveness research, of which $400 million would go to the NIH, $400 million would be allocated by the Secretary for Health and Human Services, and $300 million would support the Effective Healthcare Program at AHRQ.
Research!America has been coordinating with the Campaign for Public Health regarding the recovery package. The Senate and House both would boost funding for prevention and wellness, each providing nearly $3 billion for CDC. In addition, the CDC would receive $462 million in the House bill or $412 million in the Senate bill to modernize aging laboratory facilities at its headquarters in Atlanta.
The House bill also helps bring science funding up to the levels approved by Congress in the America COMPETES Act of 2007. The NSF would receive $3 billion and Department of Energy's Office of Science $2 billion, among other increases for science agencies. The Senate increases for NSF and the DOE Office of Science were more modest at $1.4 billion and $430 million respectively.
For updates on research in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, please visit www.researchamerica.org/advocacy.
Spotlight: Member of Congress
In the current difficult environment for research budgets, Rep. Ed Markey (MA) stands out as a champion for increasing funding for the National Institutes of Health. Markey, along with Reps. David Reichert (WA), Janice Schakowsky (IL), Joe Courtney (CT) and Christopher Smith (NJ) and former Rep. Christopher Shays (CT), has taken the lead on sending letters to congressional leaders in support of increasing the NIH budget. The letters demonstrate strong bipartisan support for the NIH with more than 175 members of Congress signing on.
Markey has served the 7th District of Massachusetts, home to many biotech companies, universities and other research-driven institutions, since 1976. As a result, he is a long-time proponent for health. Markey co-founded the bipartisan Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer's Disease and the bipartisan Congressional Cystic Fibrosis Caucus. Additionally, Markey is a strong supporter of stem cell research and has consistently voted to expand federal funding for such research.
NIH Releases Director's Report, New Information on Funding
The National Institutes of Health published the first Biennial Report of the Director in January. The report provides an integrated portrait of NIH research activities, making it easier for Congress, advocates and patient groups, and the general public to understand the many programs within the agency. Download the report at http://biennialreport.nih.gov.
Also, NIH has begun a new process for providing detailed funding information for 215 major areas, called the Research, Condition and Disease Categorization system. The process was initiated at the request of Congress to provide consistent and transparent NIH research funding information. The information can be found in a table, "Estimates of Funding for Various Diseases, Conditions, and Research Areas," at www.report.nih.gov/rcdc/categories.
IOM: More Funding Needed for Global Health Research
A new Institute of Medicine report, U.S. Commitment to Global Health: Recommendations for the New Administration, calls for doubling U.S. global health investments by 2012. The report provides a vision for future U.S. investments and activities in global health research.
The report recommends that the Obama Administration highlight health as a pillar of U.S. foreign policy, create and formalize global health leadership, and fund research for health. A full report looking at other sectors' roles will be released this April.
Research!America's 2007 report on U.S. investment in global health research found that in 2006 the U.S. invests 8% ($9.3 billion) of its overall health research funding on global health research.
"Only with strong, sustained investment can we address the humanitarian, economic and national security concerns within and beyond our borders," said The Honorable John Edward Porter, Research!America chair. Visit www.researchamerica.org/global_health_research_investment for more about the investment report, and download the IOM report at www.iom.edu.
25 New Global Health Ambassadors, Eager to Work with Legislators
Research!America's Paul G. Rogers Society for Global Health Research has selected 25 of the nation's foremost experts in global health research to join 50 of their peers in a united effort to build a national conversation around the value and importance of U.S.-funded global heath research.
Selected by a distinguished Advisory Council that includes four Nobel Laureates, these Ambassadors encompass a wide range of expertise in fields such as nursing, pediatrics, violence/injury, and infectious and neglected diseases.
With support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Ambassadors will work with policymakers and the media to increase the nation's awareness of and make the case for a greater U.S. investment in global health research.
"We have a new Congress and a new Administration. Now is the time when we can make a difference for global health research," said The Honorable John Edward Porter, chair of the Society Advisory Council and Research!America chair. "These Ambassadors will be exceptional leaders in advocacy, and their example will serve as inspiration for every global health researcher. Paul Rogers' spirit lives on through the work of each of these Ambassadors. As he often said, ‘without research, there is no hope.'"
Visit www.researchamerica.org/pgr_society to learn more.
New Research Textbook: Chapter on Advocacy by Research!America CEO
Clinical and Translational Sciences: Principles of Human Research, a textbook from Elsevier, was published in January. Edited by David Robertson, MD, and Gordon H. Williams, MD, this first edition includes a chapter written by Research!America President and CEO Mary Woolley, "Clinical Research in the Public Eye," which covers the need for advocacy and public outreach by scientists.
"The strategy behind contributing this chapter is to make sure researchers consider the public and policy context of research in their studies and don't wait until they're far along in their careers before getting involved," Woolley said.
The book is available to order on www.amazon.com. Elsevier is a Research!America member.
Media Matters
Science and Economic Recovery
Bob Grant wrote on The Scientist's blog about the economic recovery package and the amount of money that may be allocated for life sciences research. He wrote, "The clearest voice clamoring for increased funding at government life science agencies has come from Research!America." In an open letter to President Obama asking for increased funding for health and medical research, the editors of Women's Health magazine quoted Mary Woolley, Research!America president: "The only way to control our health care costs is to innovate our way out of the situation we're in."
New Science Advisers, Leadership
Obama's choice of John Holdren, PhD, professor of environmental policy and science at Harvard University, as a presidential science adviser, signals that science will be a part of the political agenda, according to New York Times science reporters Andrew Revkin and Cornelia Dean. Holdren, who was the American Association for the Advancement of Science president and board chair (2005-2008), has extensive expertise in energy and climate change.
Mary Woolley wrote for the Manhattan Institute's Center for Medical Progress Web site that the next Food and Drug Administration commissioner should be someone who "has a deep knowledge of science and public health and who makes that knowledge the foundation of all of his decisions." She told Washington Independent reporter Jonathan Kaplan that "the new surgeon general should have an office with more resources in order to have a bigger impact."
Increased Funding for Epilepsy Research
Randolph Siegel, president and publisher, PARADE magazine, and a Research!America board member, wrote a powerful op-ed in the Chicago Tribune about the importance of finding a cure for epilepsy. The parent of a child with epilepsy, Siegel called for more federal funding for epilepsy research in order to speed up the medical breakthroughs for this disease and to find a cure.
Paul G. Rogers Society Ambassador in CQ Healthbeat
The Rev. Thomas Streit, CSC, PhD, University of Notre Dame biology professor, and a Paul G. Rogers Society for Global Health Research Ambassador, was quoted in policy journal CQ Healthbeat on the challenges created when researchers in developing countries take jobs in economically developed countries and shift their focus away from research to cure infectious diseases that affect developing countries. Streit spoke at a November global health research event on Capitol Hill organized by Research!America and FamiliesUSA.
Research Economy Oasis
According to the Detroit Free Press and The New York Times, several cities in the Midwest are building medical centers, hospitals and medical schools to revitalize their economies. Grand Rapids, MI, hopes to become a hub of world-class medical care, and the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor is investing in and expanding its world-class medical facilities.
President's Message
In his Inaugural Address, President Obama declared science will be restored to its rightful place. He made clear that science will be put to work to revitalize our economy and help transform health care. Obama said the size of government is not the relevant question. Rather, what matters is whether government works for its citizens. He said programs that work will be reinforced and those that don't will end. Our task is clear: we must demonstrate how investment in research works.
Research that helps us achieve health care goals is clearly research that works. Some recent examples can be found in an IOM report and two NIH reports. We must tell and retell the stories of success in research at every opportunity; indeed, we must create those opportunities. Recounting success stories is part of the strategy we encourage for advocating significant support for research in the economic recovery package being negotiated now.
Research!America has been recognized for our early and strong leadership, named the "clearest voice clamoring for increased funding at government life science agencies" by The Scientist.
More organizations are coming on board with our advocacy call. The importance of science in achieving jobs NOW, health solutions SOON and new ideas ALL THE TIME, cannot be overemphasized. New ideas make it possible to achieve a revitalized, sustainable, world-leading economy once again, and it is only with new solutions that we can manage health care costs and find new cures, treatments and prevention.
The Forsyth Institute
Founded in 1910, The Forsyth Institute is the world's leading independent non-profit organization dedicated to scientific research in oral and associated systemic diseases. Forsyth, an independent non-profit organization, is affiliated with Harvard and has collaborations with universities and research organizations around the world.
The Forsyth Institute leads in the discovery, communication and application of breakthroughs in oral health research and disease prevention. The Boston-based Institute continues its original mission to provide dental care to children through ForsythKids, a cavity prevention program serving disadvantaged children in elementary schools across eastern Massachusetts.
"Forsyth's achievements in oral health research are widely recognized by the scientific and corporate communities," said Philip Stashenko, DMD, PhD, president and chief executive officer. "Although our hallmark is the study of oral diseases and maintenance of oral health, our research emphasis has broadened over time," Stashenko said. "We have adopted a multidisciplinary and holistic research approach that is aimed at preventing the severe systemic ramifications of oral infections"
Forsyth's research funding is heavily reliant on the National Institutes of Health and other governmental and foundation funding agencies.
"With the downturn in NIH funding over the past five years, philanthropic support of research is more critical today than ever before," Stashenko said. "Private and public support of our scientists can be instrumental in bridging funding gaps, supporting promising young scientists and pushing forward our translational research agenda."
Research America and Forsyth share the common goal of increasing scientific discourse and advocating for increased NIH support for research. For more, visit www.forsyth.org.
Research!America members can download the entire February Research Advocate 
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