In This Issue
From Washington
Policy Update: Research Could Benefit in Recovery Package
CPH Roundtable Launched, Study Group Meets
McCain Adviser: No Hatchet to Science Funding
From Research!America
Remembering Paul Rogers
Garfield Award Presented October 14
Public Health Thank You Day is November 24
In the News
Regular Features
President's Message
Member Spotlight: sanofi-aventis
Policy Update
Research Could Benefit in Recovery Package
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (CA) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (NV) have indicated that Congress will work on an economic recovery package in the coming months. Pelosi recently convened an economic forum with House leaders and leading economists. She also asked key committees to hold hearings on provisions of a stimulus package so that the House is ready to act when the time comes. Reid said the Senate will return for a lame duck session on November 17, but plans for the House remain uncertain at press time.
Before adjourning to campaign in home districts, the House passed an economic recovery package worth $60.8 billion. The Senate failed to secure the 60 votes needed to consider its stimulus package, which included $1.2 billion for the National Institutes of Health and $46 million for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The anticipated economic recovery package adds yet another chance to increase funding at the NIH, CDC and Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Other upcoming opportunities include:
- completion of FY09 appropriations since much of the federal government is functioning at FY08 levels under the continuing resolution that lasts through March 6, 2009;
- submission of the new President's budget for FY10; and
- initiation of the FY10 budget and appropriations process in Congress.
Visit www.researchamerica.org/advocacy for updates.
Correction:
In the October newsletter we incorrectly stated that the Senate version of the continuing resolution included stimulus funding for NIH and CDC. The stimulus package was actually considered separately as The Economic Recovery Act of 2008 (S. 3604).
CPH Roundtable Launched, Study Group Meets
The Campaign for Public Health’s newly formed Public Health Leaders Roundtable welcomed Julie Louise Gerberding, MD, MPH, director of the CDC, as guest speaker at its first meeting in late September. The CPH advisory group is comprised of major individual, non-profit and corporate donors to CPH. At the meeting, Gerberding stressed that three things have never been greater: the opportunities that exist in public health, the need for the CDC’s work and the challenges hindering that work.In partnership with the Congressional Study Group on Public Health, CPH has organized three meetings on Capitol Hill to discuss the important role of public health in the upcoming health reform debate. See www.FundCDC.org for more.
McCain Adviser: No Hatchet to Science Funding
Presidential candidate John McCain's proposed one-year freeze on all nondefense, non-veterans spending would have a specific "carve out" for science research, a position first voiced October 14 at a Research!America event by Ike Brannon, PhD, of John McCain 2008.
Tim Westmoreland, JD, of Barack Obama 2008, said Obama is committed to doubling the National Institutes of Health budget within 10 years.
In a discussion moderated by David Leonhardt of The New York Times, both advisers hashed out their candidates' views on a panoply of health-related issues. They touched on the current administration's approach to science and how a new administration will differ.
A podcast of the discussion is available at http://researchamerica.blogspot.com/.
Remembering Paul Rogers
The Honorable Paul Grant Rogers, a highly decorated, 12-term Florida Congressman known as "Mr. Health" for his lifetime of service to public health and medical research, passed away October 13 from complications following cancer surgery. He was 87. He chaired Research!America's board from 1996-2005 and remained active as our chair emeritus.
"It's impossible to convey the enormity of the loss of Paul Rogers," said The Honorable John Edward Porter, Research!America chair. "Paul was truly a giant, and we were so fortunate to have shared his time and his very great talents as a champion of health research."
Research!America President Mary Woolley said, "Paul Rogers often said that, without research, there is no hope. For the hope that research has brought, the world owes a great debt of thanks to Paul Rogers."
Rogers' achievements benefited the lives of Americans young and old. In his honor, in 2000, Congress designated the Paul G. Rogers Plaza at the National Institutes of Health.
In 2006, Research!America established the Paul G. Rogers Society for Global Health Research in his honor, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Download the newsletter insert tribute to Mr. Rogers (PDF), and visit www.researchamerica.org/rogers_tribute for more on Paul Rogers' life and legacy.
Garfield Award Presented October 14
On Tuesday October 14, the seventh annual Eugene Garfield Economic Impact of Medical and Health Research Award was presented to Amitabh Chandra, PhD, and Douglas O. Staiger, PhD, at the Newseum in Washington, DC.
At the luncheon, keynote speaker David Leonhardt of The New York Times explained how research could play a role in the current economic crisis. “When we look at economic drivers in this country,” Leonhardt said, “what we see is a huge record of success when the government invests in things that are basic—basic science infrastructure.”
Mark McClellan, MD, PhD, director of the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform at the Brookings Institution and award selection committee chair, presented the award to Chandra and Staiger. Their publication, “Productivity Spillovers in Health Care: Evidence from the Treatment of Heart Attacks,” was honored for developing a groundbreaking model that could improve the translation of research to medical practice.
Since 2002, this award has been generously supported by the Eugene Garfield Foundation. This year, the University of Chicago Medical Center joined Research!America as a sponsoring partner. Kevin White, PhD, represented UCMC at the event. Download a podcast from www.researchamerica.org/economicimpact_award.
Public Health Thank You Day is November 24
Research!America and our national public health partners invite you to join us in celebrating our public health heroes on Monday, November 24. The Hon. Paul G. Rogers (1921-2008) was a public health hero who worked at the national level to achieve passage of legislation that helped all Americans. These four researchers and other public health heroes have followed his example in their own communities.
Lynch's research in rural Oklahoma led the community and elected officials to take action to protect families against hazardous lead levels. "We need to ensure that policymakers understand how public health protects us all every day." |
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Greenberg's groundbreaking work in HIV/AIDS research has led the way to new preventions and safer procedures and treatments for HIV-infected patients and those at risk. "The current U.S. investment in this epidemic is proof that if we dedicate the resources, we can help slow the rate of infection." |  James L. Regens, PhD, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center Regens' research is protecting our military and all Americans from bioterrorism and emerging infectious diseases. "Public health research is an integral part of economic growth; leveraging scientific innovation is challenging, but essential." |
Robert A. Lynch, PhD, MPH, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center 
Susan P. Baker, MPH, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Center for Injury Research and Policy 
Alan E. Greenberg, MD, MPH, George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services 
On Public Health Thank You Day, "we recognize our ‘health protection heroes' who work tirelessly every day to promote the health of people of all ages," said Julie Louise Gerberding, MD, MPH, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director. "The 14,000 public health professionals at the CDC ... say ‘thank you' to each of these heroes on the frontlines of health." Visit www.publichealththankyouday.org for more information and ways you can say thank you.
Media Matters
Science Magazine Publishes Porter and Woolley Editorials
Science magazine published an editorial by The Hon. John Edward Porter, Research!America board chair, on the importance of putting research on the national agenda. Porter encouraged scientists to help identify candidates for the next president's science appointments, volunteer to advise candidates on science issues, school themselves on the candidates and their positions on science issues, encourage debates about science among those who seek public office and finally, to run for office themselves.
An editorial written by Mary Woolley, Research!America president, and Jim Wells, PhD, professor at the University of California in San Francisco, was also published in Science. Woolley and Wells wrote that investing in basic science is good not only for the U.S. but also for the rest of the world. They call on scientists individually and through advocacy groups to raise public awareness in support of health research.
Research!America on the Candidates' Views on Research
Nature and Nature Medicine's election specials both cited presidential candidates John McCain's and Barack Obama's answers to Research!America's Your Candidates-Your Health voter education initiative. Coco Ballantyne, Nature Medicine reporter, described Research!America as "one of the 15 groups to know" in science advocacy in the U.S. Porter, Research!America's chair, was also featured in Nature Medicine as one of the 10 most influential people in science policy.
David Baltimore, PhD, the Robert A. Millikan Professor of Biology at the California Institute of Technology, and Alan I. Leshner, PhD, CEO of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, wrote a joint op-ed that appeared in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on the importance of putting science on the national agenda. Baltimore is the recipient of our 2009 Builders of Science Award, and Leshner is a Research!America board member.
Former Research!America intern and current Vanderbilt University medical student Andrew Gore published an op-ed in The Tennessean newspaper in which he cited Research!America's voter education initiative. He concluded, "We need the NIH grant funding for the cures and treatments it facilitates. We need the NIH funding to support local employers. We need the NIH funding for a healthier and stronger community. The only way to find out if our elected officials are going to support NIH funding is to ask them. I have. Have you?"
Moderated by The New York Times' "Economic Scene" columnist David Leonhardt, Research!America's October 14 discussion between representatives from the McCain and Obama campaigns (see page 1) received coverage from The Hill newspaper, on Nature magazine's The Great Beyond Blog and other media.
Zerhouni's Departure from NIH
Bloomberg News quoted Mary Woolley on the resignation of Elias A. Zerhouni, MD, who stepped down as director of the National Institutes of Health at the end of October. In spite of an unfavorable climate for research funding during his tenure, Zerhouni did an extraordinary job, Woolley said. Coverage of Research!America's statement responding to Zerhouni's announcement included Reuters News wire service, AOL News and the Web sites of several television stations.
President's Message
The passing of Paul Rogers on October 13 is a very difficult loss. In so many ways, Paul epitomized public service as a citizen's highest calling, even as he inspired countless others to excel, break new ground and set higher goals in the interest of better health and well-being in our nation and worldwide. He was completely dedicated to research, researchers and all those who strive to translate the full promise of research into the benefits of health. Research!America has established a fund in Paul's memory, which we will dedicate to achieving his vision of assuring that a new generation of voices for research will be heeded in communities around our nation.
When he assumed the chair of Research!America's Board, Paul initiated The 435 Project, named in recognition that people in every Congressional district (and by extension, every state) care deeply about research for health and want their elected representatives to make it a higher priority. The genius of this grassroots approach has undergirded our work ever since.
Now, at this singular moment in history as we turn from an extraordinary election that ignited the attention of so many young voters, it is especially fitting to reinforce Research!America's determination to re-commit to nationwide, multi-generational advocacy. We will do it in Paul's name and with his determination. The 435 Project will include national and community-level programs, advocacy training, opinion polling, outreach to Congress and media, and other activities that underscore the centrality of research for a healthier America.
I invite you to join us in this mission.
Member Spotlight: sanofi-aventis
Sanofi-aventis, a leading global pharmaceutical company based in Paris and operating in more than 100 countries, contributes to improving life by providing a broad offering of medicines, vaccines and integrated health care solutions adapted to local needs and means.
In 2007, sanofi-aventis invested more than $6 billion in research and development, which is about 16% of its net sales. A key challenge the company faces is uniting the scientific and socio-economic dimensions of its R&D innovations.
The company's R&D portfolio is among the pharmaceutical industry's most promising, especially in the fields of thrombosis, cardiometabolism, vaccines, oncology, the central nervous system and internal medicine, said Doug Greene, MD, chief medical officer, sanofi-aventis U.S.
Today's challenges of medicine are numerous, and a revolution in the way patients are considered by science and medicine is under way, Greene said.
"The days when patients had to adapt to their treatments are over. Today we are entering an era of personalized care- prevention, treatment, cure and ease of use of medicines and vaccines," Greene said. "In line with this, our R&D teams are focusing their energy on the pursuit of a single goal: offering a full range of therapeutic solutions for each patient."
To reach this goal, the teams work to combat not only a disease's symptoms but also to provide innovative drugs and vaccines through a global approach to risk factors and related diseases, he said. Clearly, increased U.S. public and private investment in research is vital to sanofi-aventis' success.
"Biotechnology, genomics and proteomics are the pathways of future research-areas that sanofi-aventis has already begun to explore," Greene said. "Our company has entered into a number of collaboration agreements with both public and private research organizations and biotechnology companies."
Such alliances include technological partnerships, which provide access to new technologies, and product-based partnerships, which make it possible to explore new opportunities in the company's spheres of excellence.
Sanofi-aventis has been a loyal Research!America member since 2001 and is a supporting partner in Research!America's voter education initiative, Your Candidates-Your Health. Research!America board member Christopher Viehbacher recently joined sanofi-aventis as CEO.
"Our partnership with Research!America complements the work we do at sanofi-aventis in important ways," Greene said. "Both organizations understand the value of research and the important role it plays in the economic health of nations and the well-being of its citizens. The partnership affords us the opportunity to collaborate in communicating and promoting important ideas about research. As a result, the messages are more credible.
"Research!America membership materials, publications and alerts provide vital information and a perspective that our company may otherwise not be aware of which helps to shape our views on some of the most important research challenges faced by societies," Greene concluded.
For more information, visit http://www.sanofi-aventis.us/.
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