In This Issue of The Research Advocate
From Washington
NIH Funding Under Scrutiny
AHRQ Annual Conference on Health Systems Change
CDC Tour for Voluntary Health Organizations
From Research!America
Top Research Advocates Named 2010 Award Recipients
Scientists, Joe Perry Rock Capitol Hill
Poll Data Summary Released
Emeritus Director Chronicles Extensive Career in New Book
In the News
Regular Features
President's Message
Member Spotlight: Food Allergy Initiative
Spotlight on Member of Congress: Rush Holt
NIH Funding Under Scrutiny
Rep. Joe Barton (TX) has asked the Government Accountability Office to review the use of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds at the National Institutes of Health. Barton is the Ranking Member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, which has jurisdiction over NIH authorization. The inquiry seeks information on the difference between typical NIH grant review and grants awarded using ARRA funds. The GAO will also estimate the number of jobs created or maintained through NIH ARRA funding. Barton has requested an interim briefing on the 2009 ARRA grants and a final report after all of the ARRA grants have been awarded.
Although at one time it looked like Congress might finish 2010 appropriations before the start of the fiscal year on October 1, the health care reform debate has taken precedence. The House of Representatives has passed all of its appropriations bills, but six remain unapproved in the Senate, including the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education bill. As of press time, the NIH, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and National Science Foundation were expected to be temporarily funded under a continuing resolution.
AHRQ Annual Conference on Health Systems Change
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's third annual conference, "Research to Reform: Achieving Health System Change," took place last month in Bethesda. The conference focused on health care quality and safety, health disparities, provider performance and payment reform, consumer involvement, and health care infrastructure.
With the backdrop of the health care reform debate looming large, the conference took place "at one of the most exciting times in health care in recent memory," said AHRQ Director Carolyn M. Clancy, MD. "The current environment could be the best opportunity we've had in years to make lasting changes that will have a transformational impact on the quality of care in the United States."
CDC Tour for Voluntary Health Organizations
The Campaign for Public Health Foundation has assumed responsibility of the Campaign for Public Health tradition of educating others about public health through hands-on experiences. While CPH previously led 56 congressional staff members on tours of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention campus, future educational tours will be directed by the new foundation.
The CPH Foundation's first agency tour was designed for senior staff of voluntary health organizations. The tour was planned and executed in partnership with the Atlanta-based CDC Foundation.
The two-day agenda began with a private meeting with new CDC Director Thomas Frieden, MD, MPH. This event included detailed meetings with more than a dozen senior CDC staff members, tours of research laboratories and the CDC's emergency response center, and a teleconference with CDC staff in Africa. The 19 participants also enjoyed an evening reception with several CDC staffers from across the agency.
Top Research Advocates Named 2010 Award Recipients
Robert Klein, JD; Ann Lurie; Robert Mahley, MD, PhD, and the March of Dimes are among those named recipients of Research!America's 2010 Advocacy Awards. Our Advocacy Awards dinner will take place March 16, 2010, at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium in Washington, DC.
Klein will be honored with the Gordon and Llura Gund Leadership Award for his advocacy for stem cell and diabetes research. Klein led the way for Proposition 71, the California Stem Cell Research and Cures Initiative in 2004. Klein serves as the board chair of the California Institute of Regenerative Medicine, established to manage the grant process for the stem cell research funding authorized by the Initiative.
Lurie will receive the Raymond and Beverly Sackler Award for Sustained National Leadership for her long-time national and international support for biomedical research. After her early career as a public health nurse, Lurie honored the memory of her husband, Robert H. Lurie, by supporting cancer research at Chicago's Children's Memorial Hospital and Northwestern University. Lurie is founder and president of Africa Infectious Disease (AID) Village Clinics.
For his role in expanding The J. David Gladstone Institutes and finding its new home at University of California, San Francisco, Mahley will be honored with the Builders of Science Award. Mahley is currently president of the institutes. During his time as director, Mahley expanded the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease to include institutes of virology and immunology and neurological diseases.
The Paul G. Rogers Distinguished Organization Advocacy Award will be presented to the March of Dimes, an organization founded by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to fight polio. The organization is now dedicated to improving the health of children through public health research advocacy.
More details are available at www.researchamerica.org/advocacy_awards.
Scientists, Joe Perry Rock Capitol Hill
Aerosmith co-founder Joe Perry performed onstage with NIH Director Francis S. Collins, MD, PhD, and Harvard's Rudy Tanzi, PhD, at a September 24 Capitol Hill event celebrating scientists.
Hosted by the Geoffrey Beene Foundation, Research!America, Wyeth, Elan, the Alzheimer's Association and GQ, the Rock Stars of Science briefing also included ABC News' Terry Moran as moderator of panels about Alzheimer's disease and cancer research and conversations with members of Congress, including co-chairs of the Congressional Task Force on Alzheimer's Disease, Rep. Edward Markey (MA), Rep. Chris Smith (NJ) and Sen. Mark Warner (VA).
When Moran asked whether health care reform was an opportunity for Alzheimer's, Markey said, "Our health care system is broken. It's really a sick care system. We have to apply CPR to it to revive it: C for coverage for all Americans, P for prevention that we put in place through preventative policies and R for research."
In addition to their performance, Perry and Tanzi also talked with Moran, Elan's Dale Schenk, PhD, and Meryl Comer, executive producer of the Rock Stars of Science campaign, about the similarities between making music and conducting research.
George Vradenburg, chairman of the Geoffrey Beene Gives Back® Alzheimer's Initiative and founding member of LEAD-Leaders Engaged on Alzheimer's Disease, and Robert Egge, vice president of public policy and advocacy for the Alzheimer's Association, talked about the goal of stopping Alzheimer's by 2020.
Alysia Snell of Lake Research Partners presented new public opinion poll findings about awareness and attitudes toward Alzheimer's disease.
Research!America President Mary Woolley discussed the hope research provides and the Research!America public opinion poll finding that inspired the Rock Stars of Science campaign: most Americans can't name a living scientist.
Rep. Brian Bilbray (CA), Rep. Mike Castle (DE) and Rep. Rush Holt (NJ), co-chairs of the Congressional Biomedical Research Caucus, spoke about research as part of the health care reform debate and competition for research resources among diseases.
NIH Director Collins also spoke about his vision for the institutes and called on advocates to work together. "We need a unanimous, comprehensive approach to diseases. We should not be battling each other."
Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, spoke about the recent release of the promising research into an HIV/AIDS vaccine.
Laura Ziskin, filmmaker and founder of Stand Up To Cancer; Laura Shawver, PhD, CEO of Phenomix Corporation and member of the Stand Up to Cancer Scientific Advisory Committee; Amy Dockser Marcus, Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter at the Wall Street Journal; and singer and actor Delta Goodrem spoke with Moran about making strides in cancer research and their personal stories of cancer survival. Goodrem performed a song to close the event.
Find out more about the Rock Stars of Science and nominate your own rock star scientist at www.rockstarsofscience.org.
Poll Data Summary ReleasedResearch!America has published the latest compilation of our national public opinion poll data, "America Speaks" Poll Data Summary, Volume 10. This communications and advocacy resource is used by Research!America, our members and partners to push for stronger policies and funding for research to improve health. Download the summary at www.researchamerica.org/poll_summary.
Rosenfeld Chronicles Extensive Career in New Book
The memoir of Isadore Rosenfeld, MD, pre-eminent doctor, bestselling author and Research!America emeritus director, will be released October 8. Doctor of the Heart: My Life in Medicine recounts Rosenfeld's extraordinary career in medicine, including treatment of world-famous patients in entertainment, government and industry.
Beyond his roles as professor and practitioner of clinical medicine at Weill Cornell Medical Center and Memorial Sloan- Kettering Cancer Center, Rosenfeld's contributions to PARADE magazine and "Sunday Housecall" on FOX News made him a household name. Rosenfeld received the Research!America Impact on Public Opinion through Media Advocacy Award in 2001, and his Rosenfeld Heart Foundation now sponsors Research!America's Isadore Rosenfeld Award for Impact on Public Opinion.
Published by former Research!America board member, Mary Ann Liebert, the book is available to Research!America members at 20% off the cover price through November 30. To order, visit www.liebertpub.com/heart/research or call (800) 654-3237 and mention promo code Research!
Media Matters
Collins' Agenda for NIH
Francis S. Collins, MD, PhD, new director of the National Institutes of Health, discussed his plans for the NIH on NPR's "Science Friday." Comparative effectiveness and innovative research are high on his priorities list. He also wants to build on the advances in genomics to further develop the field of personalized medicine. In an earlier interview with the Associated Press, he mentioned the importance of advances in regenerative medicine.
Hamburg's Priorities for the FDA
Science magazine's Robert Koenig interviewed Margaret Hamburg, MD, the new Food & Drug Administration commissioner, about her priorities for the agency. Hamburg named tobacco regulations, the development of the H1N1 vaccine and food safety. She said, "One of my highest priorities is to strengthen the science base within FDA and also extend our engagement with the scientific community."
Training Teachers in STEM Education
Maxine Singer, PhD, president emeritus of the Carnegie Institution in Washington, DC and former chief NIH researcher, authored an editorial in Science magazine about pre-college teachers' lack of training in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). American 15-year-olds rank 24th out of 57 countries in science and 32nd in mathematics. She suggested two solutions: government-funded STEM teacher education programs and the expansion of the National Science Foundation's Teaching Fellowships program.
Roads That Are Designed to Kill
Mark Rosenberg, MD, MPP, executive director of the Task Force for Global Health and an Ambassador for Research!America's Paul G. Rogers Society for Global Health Research, authored an op-ed on traffic injuries in the Boston Globe. He wrote that the U.S. could learn from health research conducted in other countries to identify the most effective ways to make and to keep our roads safe.
Reducing Defensive Medicine
William A. Peck, MD, former dean of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and a Research!America emeritus director, wrote an op-ed in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch on reducing defensive medical practices. Specialized state courts for medical malpractice could promote more fairness and consistency and potentially give researchers a better understanding of medical errors.
Besser Joins ABC News
Richard Besser, MD, former interim director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, recently joined ABC News as senior health and medical editor.
Looking Back: Prevention Through Research 10 Years Ago
The Honorable Paul Simon (1928-2003), former Illinois senator, drew attention to the important role of research in disease prevention in a 1999 PARADE magazine article. The article was PARADE's first mention of Research!America and our poll findings about research.
President's Message
It's October: President Obama has named the 2009 winners of the National Medals of Science and Technology, and the Lasker prizes and Nobel winners have been announced. Research!America expresses admiration of all these worthy recipients and our appreciation for their commitment to research for health. We work for the day that the public will know the names and celebrate the achievements of star scientists with a healthy proportion of the enthusiasm shown to media personalities, athletes or rock stars.
Getting beyond the virtual invisibility of scientists in our society is important. New NIH Director (and a National Medal of Science winner) Francis Collins is participating in the first iteration of an innovative program to help overcome the "scientist invisibility" factor. As he and several scientific colleagues demonstrated in a recent program on Capitol Hill, he is indeed a "Rock Star of Science" (see page 1).
At the Rock Stars program, in other Hill briefings with our partners this fall and in influential mainstream publications like PARADE, Research!America is working to assure continued recognition by policy makers and the media of the connection between research and better health. Research has proven again and again that it is a game-changer, offering better health and quality of life, creating good jobs, and stimulating our local and national economies. Let's keep working together to assure research becomes and is sustained as the high national priority the American public expects and supports.
Member Spotlight: Food Allergy Initiative
The Food Allergy Initiative (FAI) was founded in 1998 by concerned parents and grandparents. Its goal is to fund research that seeks a cure, to improve diagnosis and treatment, and to keep patients safe through education and advocacy. In 2009, FAI merged with The Food Allergy Project, creating the largest private source of funding for food allergy research in the United States.
The major strategic goal for the Food Allergy Initiative is to accelerate the pace of food allergy research by funding promising studies worldwide and by ensuring increased federal investment in the field. Over 11 years, FAI has worked to increase the government's investment to $17 million per year.
"By harnessing the enthusiasm and commitment of volunteers nationwide, we can get that number to $50 million," said Robert Pacenza, executive director. FAI is taking steps toward that goal, including a recently opened Washington, DC, office, a newly hired director of public affairs and a national advocacy steering committee.
After a 2007 National Institutes of Health expert panel report provided a roadmap for food allergy research, FAI and others joined forces to support research to meet the report's objectives.
"For example, to attract talented young investigators to the field, FAI funds an annual award presented by the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology," Pacenza said.
Current research funded by FAI includes the development of an oral immunotherapy for peanut allergy and a Chinese herbal therapy for multiple food allergies that could be available as early as 2010.
"Any or all of these-among others- could hold the key to a cure," Pacenza said.
Learn more at www.faiusa.org.
Spotlight: Member of Congress
As a scientist with a PhD from NYU, Rep. Rush Holt (NJ), has a first-hand understanding of the importance of research. He is a long-time supporter of funding for health research, which he sees as crucial to improving options for the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and Parkinson's. When discussing his views on the issue at the May Research!America and PATH Capitol Hill briefing "Global Health IS America's Health," Holt said: "investment in research is critical to all the work we do."
During his time in Congress Holt has worked consistently to achieve increases in funding for the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Science Foundation, most recently through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which provided $22 billion in funding for NIH, NSF, National Institute of Standards and Technology, and other federal research agencies. Stem cell research is another cause that Holt has championed: this year he was invited to the White House for President Obama's signing of the executive order that lifted the ban on embryonic stem cell research.
Holt is co-chair of the Research and Development Caucus and the Congressional Biomedical Research Caucus, serves on multiple Congressional committees and sits on Congressional caucuses concerning Children's Environmental Health, Renewable Energy, Sustainable Development, Alzheimer's, Diabetes and other issues. He is the recipient of several awards and citations for his work, including the Biotech Legislator of the Year and the Science Coalitions Champion of Science award.
Members can download the entire October Research Advocate as a PDF.