In This Issue of The Research Advocate
FY 2010 Health Research Funding Approved
Prevention in Health Reform
President's Message
Members of Congress See Research as Important to Health Reform
Leading Research Advocates to Receive 2010 Advocacy Awards
NIH Director Collins Welcomed on Capitol Hill
Did You Know?
Board Member Keffer Honored
2009 America's Health Rankings Released
NARSAD Initiatives Advocate for Mental Health Research
Global Health Research Thought Leaders Convene
Partnering for Cures Conference
Spotlight: Rogers Society Ambassador
Media Matters
Mt. Sinai in The New York Times
New on the Web
Member Spotlight: University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
Research!America Adds Value for Our Members
A Special Thanks to New and Renewing Research!America Members
FY 2010 Health Research Funding Approved
Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2010 (H.R. 3288), which included final funding levels for federal health research agencies. The National Institutes of Health received $31.0 billion, a 2.3% increase over FY 2009. This amount split the difference between the House-approved level of $31.3 billion and the $30.8 billion recommended by the Senate Appropriations Committee and President Obama.
The House and Senate also compromised on funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which received $6.7 billion, a 1.9% increase. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality received $397 million, a $25 million increase over last year and all previous funding recommendations for FY 2010. The entire increase will be used for a new medical liability demonstration, which was initiated by Obama in his health reform address to Congress in September.
In keeping with Obama's focus on doubling the National Science Foundation's budget, Congress approved $6.9 billion for the agency. Although less than the 8.5% increase Obama recommended, the NSF budget will increase 6.7% in FY 2010.
NIH has begun to fund hESC (human embryonic stem cell) research under the new guidelines published in July. On December 2, NIH Director Francis S. Collins, MD, PhD, announced the approval of the first 13 hESC lines, and as of press time, a total of 40 lines are eligible.
Prevention in Health Reform
The Campaign for Public Health has supported strong prevention provisions in the Senate health reform bill. Ask your elected officials to include such provisions in any final health reform bill at www.FundCDC.org.
The CPH Foundation continues to collect surveys from successful public health programs across the nation and highlights them on www.CPHFoundation.org.
President's Message
As we enter a new decade and Research!America turns 21, it is exciting to consider that we are on the cusp of stunning research breakthroughs. From regenerative to personalized, medicine is poised to deliver revolutionary solutions for conditions like diabetes, cancer and cystic fibrosis. We have even figured out how to grow organs and tissues from our own cells, not only to save life but to dramatically improve the quality of our lives.
But where will these advances transpire - Singapore, Europe, China? Nations worldwide have made major commitments to research for health, investing higher proportions of their GDP than has the U.S. While the health benefits of R&D are global, the economic benefits like new jobs and higher standards of living primarily benefit the nation of origin. Stakeholders in research must work in 2010 to encourage our leaders to invest robustly in discovery research and its subsequent development. To continue to lead, we need the most aggressive innovation agenda on the planet!
Some will say no additional funds are available in this challenging time. Other nations are counting on us to hang back right now, to their advantage. Failure to invest is pennywise and pound foolish. How much of a risk is it to invest robustly - and simultaneously - in an enterprise that will propel economic growth even as it benefits health?
We are urging President Obama to prioritize research for health in his State of the Union Address. Won't you join us?
Members of Congress See Research as Important to Health ReformAs the second session of the 111th Congress begins, members continue to tackle the issue of health reform. In responses to our Your Congress-Your Health initiative, many members think that research should be a priority in reform.
In one of the first responses received in summer 2009, Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY) said, "Without better knowledge and better data, we will not achieve our basic health improvement goals."
Reducing costs has been a focus of health reform, and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) sees research as a solution. "Promising new research could lead to cost-saving treatments that save or improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans."
Rep. Wally Herger (R-CA) also shared his thoughts on the topic. "Our top priority in health reform should be to reduce the out-of-control growth in health care costs. In pursuing this goal, we must take care not to undermine the progress we are making in medical research and finding cures for life-threatening diseases."
Rep. Danny Davis (D-IL) said, "Eliminating health disparities ought to be a top priority. Research is one tool to address those disparities. Ensuring quality, affordable and appropriate delivery of health services to all is perhaps the most urgent issue we face as a nation."
Rep. Brian Bilbray (R-CA) captured the essence of the benefits of research. "From our first-class medical facilities to our world-renowned life science enterprise, we are the leader in innovative care and solutions. These innovations are allowing Americans suffering from major illnesses to live longer, healthier lives."
Visit www.yourcongressyourhealth.org to find out if your delegation has responded.
Leading Research Advocates to Receive 2010 Advocacy Awards
Research!America's 14th Annual Advocacy Awards Dinner will take place March 16, 2010, at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, DC. Leaders in health and medical research will be honored for their exemplary advocacy for research.
Philanthropist Ann Lurie will receive the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Award for Sustained National Leadership for her contributions as one of the nation's foremost advocates for health and medical research. In honor of her husband's memory, she committed funding for cancer, HIV/AIDS and child health research at Northwestern University. She also provided substantial support to the University of Michigan to promote synergies between engineering and medicine.
The March of Dimes will be honored with the Paul G. Rogers Distinguished Organization Advocacy Award for its leading advocacy for infant and child health research over the past 71 years. Kenneth A. May, chair, and Jennifer L. Howse, PhD, president, will accept the award. They will be joined by Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, former March of Dimes trustee and granddaughter of founder President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Robert Mahley, MD, PhD, president of The J. David Gladstone Institutes, will receive the Builders of Science Award. The award recognizes his leadership as Gladstone's founding director, guiding its growth to become one of the world's foremost research institutions. Led by Mahley, the Institutes found a new home at the University of California, San Francisco's Mission Bay campus in 2004.
Robert N. Klein, JD, chairman of the governing board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, will receive the Gordon and Llura Gund Leadership Award for his bold advocacy for stem cell and diabetes research. After his son was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes, Klein became a principal player on a Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation team that secured five-year supplemental NIH funding for diabetes research. He was the chairman of Proposition 71, the successful 2004 California Stem Cell Research and Cures ballot initiative that created CIRM.
For more details on the 2010 Advocacy Awards dinner and winners, visit www.researchamerica.org/advocacy_awards and download a fact sheet about the event.
NIH Director Collins Welcomed to Capitol Hill
At a December 2 Capitol Hill reception Francis S. Collins, MD, PhD, was welcomed as the new director of the National Institutes of Health.
Former Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services The Hon. Louis W. Sullivan, MD, served as master of ceremonies. Sullivan, a Research!America emeritus director, noted Research!America's leadership role in advocating for the NIH and specifically mentioned our chair, The Hon. John Edward Porter, as a champion of NIH. Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL) also spoke.
Collins' remarks emphasized the necessity of working together with Congress to advance research and health. The event was well-attended by leaders in the health and research community, including Research!America members.
Many members of Congress were also in attendance, including Sens. Byron Dorgan (D-ND), Judd Gregg (R-NH) and Tom Harkin (D-IA), and Reps. Shelley Berkley (D-NV), Brian Bilbray (R-CA), Lois Capps (D-CA), Vern Ehlers (R-MI), Leonard Lance (R-NJ), James Langevin (D-RI), Sander Levin (D-MI), Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA) and Dennis Moore (D-KS).
The event was presented in cooperation with the Congressional Biomedical Research Caucus, the Congressional Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Caucus, the Congressional Diabetes Caucus, the Congressional Heart and Stroke Coalition, and the House Cancer Caucus. Research!America was a contributing organization for the reception.
Did You Know?
Elizabeth G. Nabel, MD, former director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute is now president of Brigham and Women's/Faulkner Hospitals.
Eric D. Green, MD, PhD, was named the new director of the National Human Genome Research Institute at NIH. Susan B. Shurin, MD, has been named acting director of NHLBI. Alan E. Guttmacher, MD, has been named acting director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
The Senate confirmed Regina Benjamin, MD, as the U.S. Surgeon General.
Board Member Keffer Honored
Research!America Board Member Elizabeth Baker Keffer recently received the prestigious Washington Business Journal award "Women Who Mean Business." This annual award recognizes the most influential women in the DC region. Nominees include women from all professions who have made an impact in their community. Keffer is president of Atlantic Live and vice president of The Atlantic.
2009 America's Health Rankings Released
The United Health Foundation, American Public Health Association and Partnership for Prevention, all Research!America members, released their 2009 America's Health Rankings. The report assesses health indicators, including smoking, obesity, access to care and incidence of preventable disease, on a state-by-state basis. According to the report, these factors continue to pose threats to the health of many states, speaking to the need for research that will address growing health challenges and provide better health for all.
Research!America's Your Congress-Your Health features the 2009 Health Rankings accompanying the profiles of each Member of Congress. Go to www.yourcongressyourhealth.org to find out where your elected officials stand on health or explore the rankings at www.americashealthrankings.org.
NARSAD Initiatives Advocate for Mental Health Research
Mary Woolley, Research!America president, delivered a presentation on promoting research for severe mental illness at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, a Research!America member. She spoke about the importance of advocacy for a continued investment in research that will lead to new treatments for mental health disorders. The conference was funded in part by NARSAD, The Brain & Behavior Research Fund.
NARSAD, a Research!America member, and partners recently launched "Bring Change2Mind," a public service campaign spearheaded by Glenn Close. The actress and others are speaking out for new research to prevent and treat mental illnesses and battling stigma against these disorders. See www.bringchange2mind.org.
Global Health Research Thought Leaders Convene
The Atlantic and Research!America convened two dozen national and international leaders with expertise and vision that directly relates or intersects with research-based health systems in the United States and globally. In a moderated conversation led by Clive Crook, senior editor of The Atlantic, participants explored a range of thoughts and ideas around leveraging global health systems research to improve health in the U.S. Dinner guests represented leaders from philanthropy, media (electronic, print and broadcast), foreign policy, academia, think tanks, pharmaceutical R&D, health plans, businesses, professional associations and policy making.
Partnering for Cures Conference
Nearly 600 medical research executives, scientists, policy makers and funders met in New York at FasterCures' inaugural Partnering for Cures meeting in early December. The conference's aim was to "facilitate multisector collaborations needed to turn a scientific discovery into an accessible therapy."
At the opening plenary session, PhRMA's The Hon. Billy Tauzin, a Research!America board member, was a panelist along with Robert Beall, PhD, of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Kathy Giusti of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, and Edward Benz Jr., MD, of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Moderated by FasterCures executive director Margaret Anderson, the panel discussed challenges facing the FDA, clinical trials and translational research.
Research!America's report 2008 U.S. Investment in Health Research was used to illustrate the percentage of funding that comes from venture philanthropists. In addition to plenary sessions, more than 40 research foundations presented their work, and a formal partnering system allowed one-on-one meetings between attendees.
Find out more about the conference at www.partneringforcures.org. FasterCures, the Washington-based center of the Milken Institute, is a Research!America member.
Spotlight: Rogers Society Ambassador
Ambassador Mathuram Santosham, MD, MPH, director of the Johns Hopkins Center for American Indian Health, recently shared his research with Members of Congress. The center is celebrating three decades of saving and improving the lives of the White Mountain Apache Tribe in Arizona. There, some of the first research on oral rehydration therapy, now commonly known as PedialyteTM, and research on a meningitis vaccine was conducted.
In talking with Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D-AZ) and the office of Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) in Capitol Hill meetings, he drew on his research in developing countries to illustrate lessons the U.S. can learn from global health research.
"We underestimate what we can do," says Santosham. "The research lessons learned in other countries can be applied to any city in the U.S."
In meetings with Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) and Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), he reinforced that Johns Hopkins University is one of Maryland's largest employers and its health research funding contributes substantially to the state economy.
Media Matters
Research Funding Impacts Young Scientists, Innovation
H. Steven Wiley, PhD, director of Biomolecular Systems at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, authored an editorial in The Scientist on the importance of funding young scientists' research in today's strained and competitive research funding environment.
Fareed Zakaria, PhD, editor of Newsweek International, wrote for the magazine about the United States' slow decline in the most common measures of innovation. Zakaria recommended that the U.S. reinforce its commitment to research and science to remain the world's leader in innovation.
Research!America's Your Congress-Your Health initiative for the 111th Congress was featured in the Hispanic community health blog SaludToday. The blog highlighted the initiative and the Spanish version of the site, provided by the National Alliance for Hispanic Health, a Research!America member.
Research to Find a Cure for Epilepsy
On "60 Minutes," CBS News' Katie Couric interviewed Susan Axelrod, president and co-founder of Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy (CURE), and David Axelrod, senior adviser to President Obama, about their experience caring for their oldest daughter, who has epilepsy. The Axelrods said more research is needed to help the 3 million Americans with this often uncontrollable disease. Couric and CURE are past Research!America Advocacy Award honorees.
Administration Approves First hESC Lines
The Obama administration approved the first human embryonic stem cell lines for use in federally funded research. The approved lines were developed by Children's Hospital in Boston and Rockefeller University in New York City. In a Washington Post article, Francis S. Collins, MD, PhD, director of the National Institutes of Health, said, "This is the first down payment on what is going to be a much longer list that will empower the scientific community to explore the potential of embryonic stem cell research."
Rogers Society Ambassador: TB Research is Needed
Carole Mitnick, ScD, assistant professor of global health and social medicine at Harvard Medical School and an Ambassador in Research!America's Paul G. Rogers Society for Global Health Research, wrote an op-ed on The Huffington Post blog to recognize Sir John Crofton, MD (1912-2009), who pioneered the TB treatment still used today. She said the incidence of TB is still high and U.S. investment in global health research is needed.
Public Health Thank You Day In the News
Letters to the editor about Public Health Thank You Day were published in The Yuma Sun (Yuma, AZ), The Herald-Mail (Hagerstown, MD), The Journal (Martinsburg, WV), The News & Record (South Boston, VA), The State Journal- Register (Springfield, IL) and The Examiner (Independence, MO). An article in the Northwest Herald (McHenry County, IL) quoted Mary Woolley, Research!America president: "During this time of H1N1 and seasonal flu, we couldn't have a better reminder than Public Health Thank You Day of why our public health professionals are so important to our day-to-day health and safety."
Mt. Sinai in The New York Times
Dennis Charney, MD, dean of the Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, a Research!America member, authored an advertorial that appeared in The New York Times. Charney wrote about the need for investment in biomedical research that prevents and cures disease, improves the economy and makes the U.S. economically competitive. "Investment in basic biomedical research is necessary to spur medical and scientific innovation," he wrote.
New on the Web
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services launched Health IT Buzz, a new blog by National Coordinator for Health IT David Blumenthal, MD. http://healthit.hhs.gov/blog/onc/.
The National Human Genome Research Institute added color illustrations and 3D animations to its Talking Glossary of Genetic Terms at http://genome.gov/glossary.
The American Association for the Advancement of Science, a Research!America member, and partners established two social networking sites for clinical and minority scientists. See http://community.sciencecareers.org.
AAAS launched Expert Labs to help scientists connect with policy makers. http://expertlabs.org
Member Spotlight: The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health
The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison is at the vanguard of a new paradigm uniting public health and medicine. With this new model, it addresses the evolving health care needs of Wisconsin and beyond while building on its innovative tradition of more than 100 years of educating health professionals and expanding boundaries of science through research.
The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health emphasizes translational research that not only improves patient care but also addresses critical public health challenges with regional, national and global impact. Given the complexity of many of these issues, the school is developing research facilities with emphasis on interdisciplinary research focuses rather than organizing along traditional disciplinary lines.
A two-year Master of Science in Biotechnology program, begun in 2002, is an example of the school's commitment to innovative translational programs. This unique training program focuses on development of leadership skills and expertise in many aspects of biotechnology including science, business, ethics and law.
"The curriculum emphasizes the development of intellectual property from discovery to commercialization," said Richard Moss, PhD, senior associate dean for research, biotechnology and graduate studies. "Graduates of the program earn a degree that is both conceptually rich and also has a great deal of practical applicability."
The more than 100 graduates of the program so far have done very well, even in the economic downturn, and several are in leadership positions at biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, he said.
Moss said the program is an expression of the school's broad-based emphasis on translation of research into improved public health and welfare. It's also held up as an exemplar of the Wisconsin idea: the influence of the university extends to the boundaries of the state and beyond.
The program's collaborative curriculum is taught by University of Wisconsin faculty members and local and national leaders in the biotech field.
See www.med.wisc.edu 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:
- To facilitate the national conversation on the intertwined topics of health, research and the economy, Research!America and our partners have invited all members of the 111th Congress to participate in Your Congress-Your Health.
- We led the effort, mobilized our leadership and grassroots, and boldly supported Sen. Arlen Specter's (D-PA) successful call for $10 billion for NIH in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. After five years of flat funding, ARRA funds being disbursed across the nation are a vital reinvestment in U.S. health-related research.
- We are committed to increasing funding for research that improves health, specifically by raising the budget of the NIH to ensure the permanency of critical research capacity built up through ARRA-funded grants.
- We lead the way in ensuring research is positioned as part of the solution to our nation's economic and health challenges.
- We have worked to keep research on the agenda during the health care reform debate.
A Special Thanks to New and Renewing Research!America Alliance Members
Georgia Research Alliance
IEEE-USA
American Association of Public Health Dentistry
American Medical Association
American Sociological Association
Association for Prevention Teaching and Research
California Institute for Regenerative Medicine
Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation
Howard University School of Dentistry
Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International
Keystone Symposia on Molecular and Cellular Biology
Northeastern Ohio Universities Colleges of Medicine and Pharmacy
Pfizer Inc
Texas A&M University System Health Science Center
University of Colorado Denver
Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Download the entire January 2010 Research Advocate as a PDF.