In This Issue
From Capitol Hill
2009 Health Research Funding Outlook
From Research!America
Research!America to Honor Stars of Research Advocacy
Our Annual Membership Meeting & National Forum
Research!America Backs Call for Presidential Debate on Science
In the News
Media Matters: Research in the News
Regular Features
President's Message
Member Spotlight: Kidney Cancer Association
2009 Health Research Funding Outlook
On February 4, President Bush released his final budget proposal, and the outlook for funding for research to improve health is mixed. The president's budget proposes $29.2 billion for the National Institutes of Health in FY09, the same level Congress allocated for FY08. For the sixth year, the NIH budget would fail to keep pace with inflation and growth in research opportunities.
Core funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention fared the worst in the president's proposal and would decline 7.5% from $6.4 billion in 2008 to $5.9 billion in 2009. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's budget would also decrease 2.7% to $326 million.
As part of the administration's American Competitiveness Initiative, the National Science Foundation would receive a 13.6% increase to $6.9 billion. This is the third year in a row Bush has requested a significant increase for NSF, but the proposed gains have been mostly unrealized.
Given the recent trends in funding for research to improve health, advocacy will be essential as Congress works through the FY09 budget and appropriations processes. Research!America will work with the Campaign for Medical Research and the Campaign for Public Health to increase funding in 2009 and keep advocates informed of opportunities to take action.
CMR released a statement following the release of the president's budget saying that at a minimum, Congress should provide an increase of 6.5% for NIH in order to cover biomedical research inflation and to match the average real growth of 3% above inflation per year for NIH over the previous 30 years.
Research!America's statement noted that the President's proposal "exacerbates the troubling pattern we have seen for the past five years."
Julie L. Gerberding, MD, MPH, CDC director, is spoke at a congressional briefing sponsored by the Congressional Public Health Study Group on February 27. For more information, please visit http://www.fundcdc.org/.
Research!America to Honor Stars of Research Advocacy
Hundreds of the nation's top leaders in science, medical research, advocacy, business, government and the media will join Research!America this month to honor our 2008 Advocacy Award recipients. Our 12th Annual Advocacy Awards Gala will be March 18 at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, DC.
Gala co-chairs are Joseph M. Feczko, MD, Pfizer Inc, and Dennis A. Ausiello, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital/Partners Healthcare System. Our media host is Randy Siegel, PARADE magazine, and our Grand Reception Sponsor is GlaxoSmithKline.
Our 2008 award recipients are:
- Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Edwin C. Whitehead Award for Medical Research Advocacy
- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, State of California, Isadore Rosenfeld Award for Impact on Public Opinion
- William H. Foege, MD, MPH, Emory University and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Raymond and Beverly Sackler Award for Sustained National Leadership
- Pat Furlong, Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy, Gordon and Llura Gund Leadership Award
- amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research, represented by Mathilde Krim, PhD, Paul G. Rogers Distinguished Organization Advocacy Award (Hogan & Hartson LLP)
- Richard A. Lerner, MD, The Scripps Research Institute, Builders of Science Award
For more information, including details about our awardees and lists of our gala sponsors and honorary chairs to date, please visit www.researchamerica.org/advocacy_awards. For sponsorship/contribution information, contact Cindy McConnell at 703-739-2577, ext. 35.
2008 Advocacy Awards Selection Committee M. Cass Wheeler, chair |
Our Annual Membership Meeting & National Forum
Our 2008 National Forum Research for Health in 2008: Valuing Evidence and Enhancing Impact will be March 18 at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. A luncheon will begin at noon, and the forum will start at 1 p.m.
Moderated by Susan Dentzer, health correspondent for "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" on PBS, the forum will provide an engaging and interactive discussion. Forum panelists include:
- Carolyn M. Clancy, MD, AHRQ director
- Julie L. Gerberding, MD, MPH, CDC director
- Joel Kupersmith, MD, chief research and development officer, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
- Garry Neil, MD, corporate vice president, Corporate Office of Science and Technology, Johnson & Johnson
- William D. Novelli, chief executive officer, AARP
- Andrew C. von Eschenbach, MD, FDA commissioner
- Elias A. Zerhouni, MD, NIH director
Our 2008 National Forum sponsors confirmed to date are AARP, Astellas Pharma U.S., Inc., The Hill newspaper, Information Forecast, Johnson & Johnson, Novartis, Pfizer Inc and Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.
The 2008 Research!America Annual Meeting of Members will take place at the Press Club at 10:30 a.m. on March 18. All Research!America members are encouraged to attend!
RSVP for these complimentary admission events at www.researchamerica.org. For those who cannot attend in person, the forum will be webcast. Register at www.researchamerica.org/forum.
Research!America Backs Call for Presidential Debate on Science
Research!America has endorsed Science Debate 2008, joining the call for a debate among the presidential candidates about science and technology policy, medicine and health. The debate-co-sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Council on Competitiveness, National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, Institute of Medicine and more than 100 other institutions and universities- is scheduled for April 18 at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. See www.sciencedebate2008.com.
Americans have never had more resources available about candidates' positions on health, science and research, but the candidates have yet to debate those issues. We encourage you to review Your Candidates-Your Health: Presidential Primaries 2008 at www.yourcandidatesyourhealth.org and our partners' voter guides to learn more about the candidates' positions. Then, join the discussion on our blog (www.researchamerica.org/blog) about the issues you think should be included in the debate.
At AARP's Divided We Fail, www.dividedwefail.org, download statements from the candidates about prevention, long term care, wellness and health care.
Find out when candidates will be in your area using OneVote 08's candidate tracker at www.onevote08.org.
At Scientists & Engineers for America's Science, Health and Related Policies (SHARP) Network (http://sharp.sefora.org/) and Physics Today's Campaign 2008 blog (http://blogs.physicstoday.org/politics08), find biographical information, quotes, links to speeches and position statements from the candidates on a range of science issues from education to climate to investment.
Sign up for an election day reminder text message with the Health Foundation for the Americas and the National Alliance for Hispanic Health's Vote for Health at www.healthyamericas.org/vote. Help shape the debate by letting the candidates know you want to hear their positions on research, science and health!
Media Matters
Research!America in the News
Donald Kennedy, PhD, recently retired editor-in-chief of Science magazine, announced in an editorial in the magazine that the American Association for the Advancement of Science was co-sponsoring Science Debate 2008, a call by concerned leaders in science, journalism, business, government and academia for a presidential debate on science and technology (see page 1). Kennedy also wrote about our related effort Your Candidates-Your Health: Presidential Primaries 2008. Our initiative compiles presidential candidates' responses to questions about health and medical research at www.yourcandidatesyourhealth.org.
Science magazine also mentioned Research!America's Paul G. Rogers Society for Global Health Research in an editorial by Alan I. Leshner, PhD, AAAS CEO and Research!America board member. He wrote about the need for "glocal" advocacy for scientific, medical and health research-making a global issue local. "Some organizations, such as Stanford University, Research!America's Paul G. Rogers Society for Global Health Research and AAAS, have good programs that can help guide scientists to become effective communicators," he wrote, but "many more need preparation of this kind."
Putting Science on the Presidential Agenda
Research!America's president, Mary Woolley, was recently a guest on 10 local, regional and national radio shows, including CNN Radio and Wall Street Journal Radio. Her message about making the public and the presidential candidates aware of the need for research funding was timely; she delivered it just a few days before Super Tuesday and days after the President's State of the Union address. Woolley delved into more detail about the candidates' positions on science during a live panel discussion on Cleveland's local NPR station, 90.3 FM WCPN. Jeffrey Mervis, deputy news editor of Science, Andrew Revkin, science reporter for The New York Times, and physicist Lawrence Krauss, PhD, Case Western Reserve University, were the other panelists.
Wisconsin Op-Ed: Why Global Health Research?
The Capital Times (Madison, WI) newspaper published an opinion piece by Linda Baumann, PhD, RN, University of Wisconsin. Baumann, an Ambassador in our Paul G. Rogers Society for Global Health Research, highlights the mutual benefits of health research to Americans and to people around the world. Noting the increase in diabetes in Madison and in countries like Vietnam and Uganda, she calls for greater investment in global health research as "the smart thing to do for America and the right thing to do for the world."
Nobel Laureate Winner Joshua Lederberg Remembered
Research!America's chair, The Honorable John Edward Porter, former Illinois Congressman, responded to the news of the death of Nobel Laureate Joshua Lederberg, PhD, a member of Research!America's Scientific Advisory Committee, in a statement. He said, "The loss of Joshua Lederberg is a substantial one to the scientific community and all those who care about the benefits that scientific research has brought our nation and our world. He was truly a giant among American scientists."
President's Message
Why aren't the presidential candidates talking more about research? I think it's because the research community isn't pressing our case hard enough. It's time to do so. Research!America is among the science organizations and scientists to have endorsed Science Debate 2008, the organizers of which have invited the candidates to talk about science topics at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia on April 18. As we go to press, none of the candidates had signed on. Let's all reach out to the campaigns to turn that around and be sure this is a must-do event on the road to the White House! The more individuals the campaigns hear from, the more likely they are to respond to this invitation and to our voter education resource at www.yourcandidatesyourhealth.org. Numbers count! Not getting involved is like not voting-inexcusable!
There will be lots of talk about the challenges facing research at our upcoming National Forum at the National Press Club on March 18. If you can't be there in person, check out what the speakers have to say via our webcast at www.researchamerica.org/forums. That evening, we will honor outstanding advocates for research at our 12th Annual Advocacy Awards at the Mellon Auditorium. If you can't be with us, please take a moment to salute the awardees via note or e-mail. I know they would appreciate hearing from fellow stakeholders in research who are committed to making research for health a much higher national priority, especially during this election year!
Member Spotlight: Kidney Cancer Association
Awareness of kidney cancer is a priority for the Kidney Cancer Association. It is one of the more rare types of cancer, affecting a small population.
"We want people to be aware of kidney cancer and know the early symptoms to further reduce its reach," said Bill Bro, the association's CEO. "For patients with kidney cancer, we really try to make sure they're as educated as they can be and know about available therapies.
"Research and advocacy are also important components in the association's work. Membership in Research!America augments those components."
Not only does the association directly fund research into kidney cancer, in partnership primarily with the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American Urological Association, but it also empowers its membership with advocacy tools.
"When patients receive a diagnosis such as kidney cancer, they can be overwhelmed by the lack of control they seem to have," Bro said. "But being an advocate is a way they can have a positive impact."
Not only has the association been a Research!America member since 1996, but it has also been a strong partner in our recent Your Congress-Your Health and Your Candidates-Your Health: Presidential Primaries 2008 initiatives.
"These have been great collaborations for us," Bro said. "The sites allow our members to know where their candidates and leaders stand, and to evaluate their positions."
The association reaches out to its more than 45,000 members primarily through e-communications. In addition to keeping its members informed of the latest research and advocacy opportunities, the association promotes clinical trials, giving patients one more way to address their cancer.
"Translational research, or getting the research findings to the patients' health care, is of tremendous importance to us," Bro said. "Clinical trials are an important part of that process."
The association's work does not focus exclusively on kidney cancer.
"Cancer research in general is important, too," Bro said. "You never know where a cure or treatment for kidney cancer might pop up."
A medical advisory board, made up of the top physicians working with kidney cancer patients, allows the association to help its members with medical referrals.
The association actively supports increasing public and private funding for all research.
"The more money you put into research, the more cures and treatments you can get out," Bro said. "That's the bottom line, and it's true not just for kidney cancer."
For more information, visit www.kidneycancer.org.
March is National Kidney Month. For more information, visit http://nkdep.nih.gov/kidneymonth/.
Research!America members can download the entire March Research Advocate
using their member log in. E-mail kfuller@researchamerica.org if you need your log-in information.