In This Issue of The Research Advocate
From Washington
2011 National Health Research Forum to Convene Agency Leaders, OthersPolicy Update
Lasker Foundation, NIH Team Up for Clinical Research Scholars Program
Vision for USAID Includes Global Health Research
From Research!America
Senator Durbin to Receive 2011 Whitehead Award
Advocacy & Action
Global Health R&D Advocacy
Regular Features
Member Spotlight: Weill Cornell Medical College
Updated Heart Disease and Stroke Fact Sheet Released
Spotlight: Members of Congress
President's Message
Special Thanks to New and Renewing Research!America Alliance Members
In the News
Download the entire February 2011 Research Advocate as a PDF.
Senator Richard Durbin to Receive 2011 Whitehead Award
Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-IL) has been named the recipient of Research!America's 2011\ Edwin C. Whitehead Award for Medical Research Advocacy. Durbin will be honored for his longstanding commitment to research, including global and public health research, throughout his three terms in the Senate and his earlier eight terms in the House of Representatives.
Durbin has successfully fought for federal research funding and for legislation to address childhood asthma, HIV/AIDS in the U.S. and globally, maternal and infant health, and traumatic brain injury. He is an outspoken supporter of embryonic stem cell research. He has worked to promote healthy nutrition and reduce tobacco usage, including the law banning smoking on airplanes.
Durbin will be honored at the 2011 Advocacy Awards event on Tuesday, March 15, at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, DC.
The other 2011 Advocacy Award recipients are New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg; acclaimed broadcast journalist Charlie Rose; inventor and physicist Dean Kamen; Nobel laureate J. Michael Bishop, MD; and the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center.
For more information on our Advocacy Awards, please visit www.researchamerica.org/advocacy_awards.
2011 National Health Research Forum to Convene National Agency Leaders, Others
At Research!America's eighth annual National Health Research Forum, two panel sessions will explore such topics as the importance of research now to the U.S. economy and competitiveness to improving Americans' health and reducing health care costs, and to the nation's future.
Following in the tradition of previous years, the Forum will feature a prestigious lineup of participants.
Representing the leading federal agencies for science and health will be Carolyn M. Clancy, MD, director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; Francis S. Collins, MD, PhD, director of the National Institutes of Health; Thomas R. Frieden, MD, MPH, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and Margaret Hamburg, MD, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration.
Other panelists will include research leaders and others from the academic, industry and patient advocacy communities.
The National Health Research Forum will take place from noon to 3 p.m. on March 15 at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. For more information and to register online, visit www.researchamerica.org/forums.
Various levels of sponsorship opportunities are available for the Forum, which include premier seating, recognition and other benefits. For more information, contact Carol Kennedy at 571-482-2714 or ckennedy@researchamerica.org.
Policy Update
On the final day before the legislation'sexpiration, President Barack Obama signed a stopgap measure that will ensure the Small Business Innovation and Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTP) programs will be authorized through May 31. The House and Senate passed temporary extensions only days before the program was set to expire.
At the end of the 111th Congress, the Senate and the House were unable to agree upon the proportion of agency budgets that should be dedicated to the programs. Currently, 2.5% and 0.3% of participating agency budgets-in all, 11 agencies administer grants from the programs-are dedicated to SBIR and STTR respectively. The program will continue to be funded through the current Continuing Resolution, which expires in early March.
Committee Assignments
Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) has announced leadership positions for the House committees for the 112th Congress. The Appropriations Committee will be chaired by Rep. Hal Rogers (R-KY). The Appropriations subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies will be led by Rep. Dennis "Denny" Rehberg (R-MT).
The authorizing committee for the NIH is the Committee on Energy and Commerce, which will be chaired by Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI). The subcommittee on Health will be led by Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA).
Coming soon, www.yourcongressyourhealth.org will have the tools to urge these new House leaders to respond to our new questionnaire asking the 112th Congress their views on medical and health research and related, timely issues.
CPH Foundation
The Campaign for Public Health Foundation celebrates its two-year anniversary February 9. To mark the event, the organization's Board approved a formal Strategic Plan which lays out goals and tactics for the next five years (2011-2016). During the updated plan's development, the Foundation's Board and staff focused on how to best pursue the organization's mission. The CPH Foundation also solicited detailed input from our partners in the health community. To learn more, contact the Foundation's executive director, Karl Moeller, at KarlM@CPHFoundation.org. Also under way is the development of a one-page fact sheet focused on injury prevention. The CPH Foundation received a grant from Pitney Bowes that provided seed money to help underwrite this project. The grant also enabled the Foundation to purchase video equipment and editing software to fulfill plans to add to its existing video library on YouTube. To see a video of the Foundation's Unsung Heroes of Public Health Awards, visit www.youtube.com and search for TheCPHFoundation.
Updated Heart Disease and Stroke Fact Sheet Released
Research!America has released its updated heart disease and stroke fact sheet for American Heart Month; see this month’s insert. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for Americans and stroke is the third. Together they account for nearly one-third of all deaths in the U.S. Thanks to research into the causes, diagnosis and treatment of heart disease and stroke, death rates from heart disease have been reduced by 65% and death rates from strokes have been reduced by 73% between 1968 and 2006. But an increased investment in research is needed so that promising treatments such as stem cell transplantations in the heart and minimally invasive heart surgery can continue to be developed. Investing in research to treat heart disease and stroke improves health in the U.S. and around the world, reduces health care costs, and improves quality of life.
Study: States Now Fund Majority of ESCR
A study published in Nature Biotechnology found that states, not the federal government, are responsible for the majority of funding for human embryonic stem cell research conducted to date in the U.S.
The study found that in each year since 2007, six states combined have provided more funding for ESCR than the federal government.
Aaron Levine, PhD, a professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology who led the study, has created a searchable database that allows users to find detailed information about each grant given out by those six states. Levine's database can be found at www.stemcellstates.net.
Levine's research found that in the six states-California, Connecticut, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey and New York-at least 66% of the state-funded principal investigators had not received funding from the National Institutes of Health for embryonic stem cell research. In Connecticut and New Jersey, the number was significantly higher.
Lasker Foundation, NIH Team Up for Clinical Research Scholars Program
The Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation and the National Institutes of Health have joined forces to create the Lasker Clinical Research Scholars Program, an initiative to foster the next generation of clinical researchers.
Funded by NIH, the program provides up to 11 years of research funding to talented early-career investigators. The scholars, selected annually, will have the opportunity to work on a clinical research topic of interest at an NIH institute to address the "valley of death"-the delay between breakthroughs in research and the delivery of that research to patients in the form of treatments and cures.
The Lasker Foundation is a Research!America member.
Vision for USAID Includes Global Health Research
On his first anniversary as director and the kickoff of his agency's 50th anniversary, USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah, MD, outlined a new model for the agency's future in remarks at the Center for Global Development. "In our Global Health Initiative," he noted, "... we are pursuing an integrated approach that will generate efficiencies and strengthen health systems. We are now working with partners such as the NIH, the CDC and PEPFAR to build on recent advances in science, technology and innovation, especially in very high return on investment areas such as vaccinating children; preventing HIV, malaria and TB; and focusing on child nutrition and maternal health."
Responding to Shah's remarks on the ModernizeAid blog, David Cook of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative urged President Barack Obama and the new Congress to "consider the proven value of investments in biomedical research and development to address the major diseases and health issues facing the world" as they weigh government spending priorities. Among his points, he notes the many U.S. jobs created by global health R&D investment, citing Research!America data.
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 NIH. Please remind the president and White House Office of Management and Budget Director Jacob Lew 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 $35 billion in NIH funding in FY2012. Visit www.researchamerica.org/advocacy.
Member Spotlight: Weill Cornell Medical College
Weill Cornell Medical College was founded in 1898; in the 112 years since, it has become recognized as one of the country's leading clinical and medical research centers. The college, located in New York City, features 24 basic science and clinical care departments and participates in affiliations with institutions in New York and beyond.
Weill Cornell Medical College has nearly completed fundraising on a four-year, $1.3 billion project to advance translational research. The urban campus is already home to the National Institutes of Health-funded Clinical and Translational Science Center. In addition, construction of a new research building is currently under way. The college's dean and the university's medical provost, Antonio M.Gotto, MD, DPhil, is excited about the promise that translational research holds.
Patients, he said, see the benefits of the college's cutting-edge research, which helps them overcome illness and disease. The college benefits by being able to lure researchers and teachers who will be mentors and role models for the next generation of physicians and physician-researchers, Gotto added.
That's not the only thing Gotto has to be excited about. He says he is pleased with the college's efforts to increase diversity among its researchers; a new master's program that focuses on clinical investigation; and the school's ongoing work with The Starr Foundation.
A membership with Research!America is also a key component of the college's mission.
"The benefits are supporting our research efforts," Gotto said, "and keeping the public focused on the importance that research has and how important this is to the American public-the clinical benefits and the economic impact."
Visit www.med.cornell.edu for more.
Spotlight: Members of Congress
A number of the new Members of the 112th Congress have degrees or backgrounds in the medical field:
Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA) spent nearly a decade as a physician assistant and worked as a clinical instructor at the University of Southern California's Keck School of Medicine in its physician assistant program.
Rep. Dan Benishek, MD (R-MI) graduated from Wayne State University with an MD and spent most of his career as a general surgeon.
Rep. Diane Black (R-TN) worked as a nurse before joining the Tennessee House of Representatives in 1999; she also served in the Tennessee Senate.
Sen. John Boozman, OD (R-AR) and his brother co-founded the Boozman-Hof Regional Eye Clinic in Rogers, AR.
Rep. Larry Bucshon, MD (R-IN), a cardiothoracic surgeon, was president of Ohio Valley HeartCare in Evansville, IN.
Rep. Scott DesJarlais, MD (R-TN) is a physician and graduate of the University of South Dakota School of Medicine. He worked for nearly two decades at Grand View Medical Center in Jasper, TN.
Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-NC) is a nurse who previously worked in a surgical intensive care unit in Michigan.
Rep. Paul Gosar, DDS (R-AZ) has medical policy experience as well as a DDS degree; he served as vice-chair on the Arizona Dental Association Council on Governmental Affairs.
Rep. Andy Harris, MD (R-MD), a physician who earned undergrad and graduate degrees from The Johns Hopkins University, previously served in the Maryland Senate.
Rep. Nan Hayworth, MD (R-NY), is an ophthalmologist and former instructor and professor at Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
Rep. Joe Heck, DO (R-NV), an osteopathic physician with a degree from Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, founded his own medical training and consulting company.
Sen. Rand Paul, MD (R-KY), a graduate of Duke University School of Medicine, practiced eye surgery for 17 years in Bowling Green, KY, and founded the Southern Kentucky Lions Eye Clinic.
President's Message
The State of the Union, the state of civil discourse, of the economy, of health care, of global competitiveness ... these compose our national conversation as 2011 moves forward. Research!America is working to assure that research and innovation are part of those conversations.
I was inspired by Fareed Zakaria at the Council for American Medical Innovation's January forum. He observed that developing nations like India and China are "bursting with possibilities," yet the U.S. is about "cramped possibilities." He said today's great American challenge is to create jobs of the future, move up the value chain and innovate there-including setting an investment goal of 6% of GDP for R&D.
Considering that the U.S. is now at about 2.6% and hasn't been at 3% for decades, 6% is breathtaking. I gave Zakaria my enthusiastic endorsement for such a goal and asked: Where does that money come from? He said from fundamental tax reform, including tax credits, and new revenue.
Research!America's polling tells us that Americans would likely endorse a goal like this and would agree to find the resources to accomplish it. After all, everyone would be the beneficiary-better educated young people, better products and productivity, more jobs, better health and quality of life, more pride in country, and a better sense of achieving the American dream-the dream so many left their homelands to pursue. It's time to re-assert American values like innovation-driven growth and prosperity, and start moving the nation forward again, aggressively and confidently.
Media Matters
Research!America in the News
The New York Times published a letter from Research!America's Mary Woolley. She responded to an article about former Congressman Patrick Kennedy's plans to create a "moonshot" for mental health and research to address it. She wrote, "America is overdue in meeting the challenge of fully empowering research to overcome mental illness. We owe it to our veterans and other Americans to defeat these conditions."
In an article in The New Scientist, Woolley urged researchers to talk to new Members of Congress about their work. Of House leadership pledges to cut federal spending, she told BNA's Medical Research Law & Policy Report: "I don't think the science community can afford to assume that all the work that [Rep. Darrell] Issa's [budget] committee is going to be engaged in somehow will be exempting science. They're not going to be exempting anything."
2011 Research Funding Outlook
In The Washington Post, conservative columnist George Will argued that research, "a prerequisite for long-term economic vitality," should be spared from federal budget cuts. He said that in order for research to deliver on its promise, it requires financial support from the government-not just from the private sector: "Stoking that fire [of genius] is, more than ever, a proper federal function ..." He also called for public-private collaborations to keep the research pipeline growing.
According to the latest Battelle Memorial Institute and R&D Magazine report on global R&D funding, total global R&D spending is expected to increase by 3.6% to almost $1.2 trillion in 2011. The analysis found that recession-induced R&D funding cuts have leveled off in advanced economies and that developing economies' investment in R&D is rising.
Science/Business, a Brussels-based media company, published an article comparing different countries' approaches to R&D funding. According to the article, China, Sweden and France are increasing their investment in research, while the U.K. and Spain are cutting research spending. The article described the future of research spending in the U.S. as uncertain.
CDC Director on Electronic Health Records
In an interview with Modern Healthcare, Thomas Frieden, MD, MPH, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, discussed the importance of electronic health records for public health research and data collection. Frieden said EHRs may help with key areas targeted by CDC for substantial gains in Americans' health status.
Nature Highlights Klein's Legacy at CIRM
Nature wrote of the legacy of Robert Klein, JD, immediate past chairman of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. The article notes Klein's work in designing Proposition 71 and successfully advocating for its passage in the California legislature. Proposition 71 created CIRM, which has distributed more than $1 billion for stem cell research and facilities in California. Klein received Research!America's 2010 Gordon and Llura Gund Leadership Award.
Global Health R&D Advocacy
Research!America is kicking off a vaccine series with the Global Health Council on February 17, building on our advocacy and showcasing the impact of U.S. investment in global health research here at home. We will share the progress and success of our federal agencies and global health partners. We'll also detail what more needs to be done in vaccine R&D to not only save lives and strengthen economies worldwide but also in your home state.
Ninety-seven percent of Americans believe that vaccines are important to society's health today, according to Research!America's vaccines poll. Despite such widespread public awareness and support, 50,000 American adults continue to die each year from vaccine-preventable diseases such as influenza, pneumonia and hepatitis B.
We are proud to be a part of the global health community's concerted effort to bring vaccines and global health R&D to the forefront of the public and global health debate, complementing events throughout the year-including those of the ONE organization on childhood vaccines, Health Affairs' global health- and immunizations-focused issue, the Gates Foundation's Decade of Vaccines, and the Pacific Health Summit, which has selected vaccines as its theme for this year's gathering.
Upcoming Research!America Events
See details about our 2011 National Health Research Forum and Advocacy Awards.
Special Thanks to New and Renewing Research!America Alliance Members
Renewing MembersAmerican Medical Group Association
Biophysical Society
California Institute for Regenerative Medicine
The Endocrine Society
Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB)
Heart Rhythm Society
International & American Association for Dental Research
La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology
University of Kentucky College of Dentistry
University of Nevada Las Vegas School of Dental Medicine
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Not yet a member? Join Research!America today at www.researchamerica.org/become_member.
Download the entire February 2011 Research Advocate as a PDF.