Archive for March, 2008

Public Loves the Science But Ignores the Scientist

Monday, March 31st, 2008

A new public opinion survey on behalf of Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry is in line with previous Research!America polls indicating strong agreement with the imperative for increased support for science and science education. In the latest poll by Harris Interactive, nearly nine out of 10 Americans acknowledge their personal benefit from science and the need for more science education funding.

That’s certainly a positive statistic, but it masks the seeds of ignorance Americans have about science. When respondents were asked to name a scientific role model for youth, nearly half could not. Only 4% could correctly name a living scientist — Stephen Hawking or Bill Nye for example — and 6% named Bill Gates, known more as a businessman and philanthropist, and Al Gore, the former vice president and current Nobel peace laureate.

Gates and Gore certainly have supported science, and it is significant that people do recognize the importance of science even if they can’t name anyone practicing it. But can you imagine only 4% of this sample of 1,304 adults being able to name a celebrity in rehab? Which reminds us of the other good news in the survey: Albert Einstein was judged more of a role model for youth than Britney Spears.

One explanation for the public’s ignorance of fundamental science knowledge comes from another survey, by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press, finding that on cable television news, only two minutes in every five hours is devoted to science or the environment. For celebrity “news” the figure is 10 minutes and for crime 30 minutes. Another explanation is that scientists typically do not identify themselves as such, even in their own neighborhoods.

Posted in Innovation/Competitiveness, Public Opinion | No Comments »

States of the States

Thursday, March 27th, 2008

Last week’s successful Research!America forum on “Research for Health in 2008: Valuing Evidence and Enhancing Impact” focused on using knowledge gained from research to repair, or even rebuild, a health care system that by most accounts is failing the American people

In our federal system, health — like politics — is largely local, and local officials should be held accountable by patients and voters. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality today published a state-by-state “snapshot” of areas where improvement is needed. This year’s report includes each state’s rate of obesity, health insurance coverage, mental illness and the number of physician specialists.

Research!America has a state-by-state measurement of the economic impact of health research. Both of these sites are worth a look for those who wish to think globally and act locally.

Posted in Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality, Economic Impact, Research!America | No Comments »

AAAS and NSF Prepare for “Final Five”

Thursday, March 27th, 2008

Tying into the March Madness of college basketball, the National Science Foundation and the journal Science, the flagship publication of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, are accepting entries in the 2008 International Science & Engineering Visualization Challenge until May 31.

According to a press release about the 6th Annual challenge:

The Challenge recognizes the increasing importance and power of visualizations. They illuminate and explain to the public the crucial work of science and engineering. Increasingly, they have also become an essential analytical tool for those researchers themselves, revealing the patterns, structures, and truth beneath the data.
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In the past, the Challenge’s “May Madness” has drawn contestants from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands, and 27 other countries.

For rules, entry forms, and more information, see: www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/scivis.

Posted in Innovation/Competitiveness, National Science Foundation | No Comments »

Minn Post: U.S. Falling Behind

Wednesday, March 26th, 2008

In an article about stem cell research and U.S. competitiveness, MinnPost.com cites The Stem Cell Dilemma, a book by Leo Furcht, MD, and William Hoffman. Furcht is past president of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, a Research!America member.

Furcht and Hoffman are not the first to sound alarms that foot-dragging over stem cells may cost the United States economically and competitively. That prospect has been the subject of several congressional hearings since 2001 when President Bush restricted federal funding for research on stem cells derived from embryos.

Indeed, a map (below) Hoffman developed was displayed at the U.S. Senate last year. It depicts the United States along with parts of Africa, South America and the Middle East as the largest regions with restrictive policies or no policies on the research.

Stem Cell Map

Posted in Economic Impact, Innovation/Competitiveness, Research!America, Stem Cell Research | No Comments »

March 25 is American Diabetes Alert Day

Tuesday, March 25th, 2008

From the NIH Public Bulletin:

Diabetes is a serious chronic disease that can be managed through lifestyle changes and medication. Nearly 21 million Americans have diabetes—of those, 6.2 million are undiagnosed—and at least 54 million people age 20 or older have pre-diabetes.

Tuesday, March 25, is American Diabetes Alert Day®. This day is devoted to informing the public about the seriousness of diabetes, particularly when the disease is left undiagnosed or untreated.

More information at www.ndep.nih.gov.

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Posted in National Institutes of Health, Prevention & Public Health | No Comments »

New York Times Backs NIH Funding Boost

Monday, March 17th, 2008

The New York Times editorialized on Sunday on the need to boost NIH funding, an argument made here many times and most welcome for appearing in so widely circulated and influential a publication.

The editorial concludes: “Congress needs to provide the N.I.H. with enough money to keep up with biomedical inflation and preferably somewhat more. Then the government and research institutions need to do better with what they get.”

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Posted in National Institutes of Health, Research Investment/Funding | No Comments »

First Step Toward Unflattening the NIH Budget

Friday, March 14th, 2008

The Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly approved an amendment to the FY09 budget resolution that calls for an extra $2.1 billion to the NIH budget.

If the budget resolution with this provision is passed by the full Senate, then the House and then the appropriations committees, it would mean the NIH budget would rise to $32.1 billion, an 8.4 percent increase over the president’s request, which had not taken into full account the biomedical inflation rate of 3.5 percent. The amendment was sponsored by Sens. Tom Harkin, IA, and Arlen Specter, PA, and passed by a vote of 95-4. Opposing it were Sens. Tom Carper, DE, Jim DeMint, SC , James Inhofe, OK, and Jon Kyl, AZ.

“The passage of this amendment sends a strong signal that NIH must become a priority once again,” says Research!America President Mary Woolley. “The message is a good one but could easily be derailed (as many of us know) at any point during the long appropriations process. We have a long way to go before this show of support becomes real money.”

Posted in Mary Woolley, National Institutes of Health, Research Investment/Funding, Research!America | No Comments »

Your Congress-Your Health Ad in The Hill

Friday, March 14th, 2008

Contact Your Delegation

Yesterday’s edition of The Hill newspaper features an advertisement to thank Members of Congress who are participating in the Your Congress-Your Health initiative. See the ad online. (PDF)

Visit www.yourcongressyourhealth.org to see how your Representative and Senators have responded. Urge those who are not currently participating to do so by sending an e-mail. Let them know that the 125 million Americans represented by Research!America want to see their responses to the Your Congress-Your Health questionnaire. Be sure to send a thank you message to the Members of your delegation who are participating.

Another way to encourage Members to participate is by taking a copy of the ad when you visit your Representative and Senators in their district office during the upcoming recess. Help increase participation in Your Congress-Your Health by taking action now!

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Posted in Your Congress-Your Health | No Comments »

World TB Day 2008

Thursday, March 13th, 2008

Today is World TB Day, and the Global Health Council, the Aeras Global TB Vaccine Foundation and the American Thoracic Society are hosting a briefing on Capitol Hill. From their invitation:

Tuberculosis knows no borders. Taking more than 1.6 million lives each year, TB is the leading infectious disease killing people with HIV/AIDS, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. And, as a recent World Health Organization report makes clear, drug-resistant TB is a growing threat around the world, with more than 45 countries (including the United States) reporting extensively drug-resistant (XDR) TB.

Posted in Global Health Research, Prevention & Public Health | No Comments »

Broken Pipeline: Losing Opportunities in the Life Sciences

Wednesday, March 12th, 2008

The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee held hearings yesterday on an issue important to every reader of this page — the potential loss of young scientists stymied by lack of federal support for medical research. The facts are well known and compiled by a coalition of prestigious academic institutions. The Boston Globe recently reported on the personal aspects.

According to Chairman Sen. Edward Kennedy, MA, “If we lose the talents of a generation of young researchers, we put in peril not only medical progress, but America’s leadership in life sciences too. A culture of innovation and discovery does not just happen. It must be nurtured or it will wither.” The ranking member of the committee, Sen. Mike Enzi, WY, added, “Because of our investment in NIH and the technology that has spun out of it, the United States has been a world leader in health care, as we have developed a long list of vaccines, therapeutic medicines and devices to combat disease.”

Read the opening statements of Sen. Kennedy, of Sen. Enzi (PDF), and of the list of eminent witnesses: Dr. Drew Gilpin Faust, president, Harvard University; Dr. Jill A. Rafael-Fortney, associate professor, The Ohio State University; Dr. Edward D. Miller, dean of the medical faculty, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; Dana Lewis, student and diabetes advocate, American Diabetes Association, Huntsville, AL; and Dr. Samuel M. Rankin III, associate executive director, American Mathematical Society.

Posted in Innovation/Competitiveness, Research Investment/Funding | 1 Comment »

NYT: Many Doctors, Many Tests, No Rhyme or Reason

Tuesday, March 11th, 2008

An interesting commentary on health care costs—research could be a solution.

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NIH Blue Ribbon Panel

Monday, March 10th, 2008

The National Institutes of Health announced a Blue Ribbon Panel last week, formed to address any safety concerns posed by the national biocontainment research laboratory under construction at Boston University Medical Center.

The panel, chaired by Research!America’s Paul G. Rogers Society Ambassador Adel Mahmoud, MD, PhD, is comprised of experts in public health, infectious disease, epidemiology, biodefense, risk assessment, and environmental justice. They will review current risk assessments and provide technical expertise and guidance to ensure the safety of those working in the lab and living in the surrounding communities.

Additional members of the advisory panel include Research!America board member Karen Holbrook, PhD, and Society Ambassadors Donald Burke, MD and Samuel Stanley, MD.

The panel’s first public meeting will be Thursday March 13 in Bethesda, MD at NIH.

–Jennifer Chow

Posted in National Institutes of Health, Paul G. Rogers Society for Global Health Research | No Comments »

NIH Funding Letter Deadline Approaching

Monday, March 10th, 2008

Urge Your Representative to Sign-on by March 14

Representatives Edward Markey (MA), David Reichert (WA), Janice Schakowsky (IL), Christopher Shays (CT), Joe Courtney (CT) and Christopher Smith (NJ) have invited their colleagues to join them on a letter to Appropriations Chair David Obey (WI) and Ranking Member Jerry Lewis (CA) in support of a 6.5% increase for the National Institutes of Health in FY 2009.

Contact your Representative immediately and ask him or her to sign this important letter. The deadline for Representatives to respond is Friday, March 14. The seventy-nine members listed below have signed-on to the letter, but even greater support is needed. If you do not see your Representative listed below, urge him or her to support an increase for NIH and sign the letter. Be sure to thank your Representative if he or she is already participating. Take action now!

Representatives Signed-on to NIH Letter, as of March 10
Vic Snyder, AR
Gabrielle Giffords, AZ
Henry A. Waxman, CA
Howard L. Berman, CA
Lois Capps, CA
Anna G. Eshoo, CA
Elton Gallegly, CA
Doris O. Matsui, CA
Bob Filner, CA
Linda T. Sánchez, CA
Lynn C. Woolsey, CA
Ed Perlmutter, CO
Diana DeGette, CO
Joe Courtney, CT
Christopher Shays, CT
Eleanor Holmes Norton, DC
Ron Klein, FL
Robert Wexler, FL
Henry C. Johnson, GA
Neil Abercrombie, HI
Leonard L. Boswell, IA
Bruce L. Braley, IA
David Loebsack, IA
Janice D. Schakowsky, IL
Melissa L. Bean, IL
Nancy E. Boyda, KS
Dennis Moore, KS
William J. Jefferson, LA
Edward J. Markey, MA
Elijah E. Cummings, MD
Chris Van Hollen, MD
Michael H. Michaud, ME
Sander M. Levin, MI
Fred Upton, MI
Dale E. Kildee, MI
Jim Ramstad, MN
Keith Ellison, MN
Timothy J. Walz, MN
Wm. Lacy Clay, MO
Bob Etheridge, NC
Brad Miller, NC
Mike McIntyre, NC
Earl Pomeroy, ND
Christopher H. Smith, NJ
Rush D. Holt, NJ
Donald M. Payne, NJ
Albio Sires, NJ
Stevan Pearce, NM
Jon C. Porter, NV
Shelley Berkley, NV
Eliot L. Engel, NY
John J. Hall, NY
Brian Higgins, NY
Maurice D. Hinchey, NY
Carolyn B. Maloney, NY
Jerrold Nadler, NY
Louise McIntosh Slaughter, NY
Carolyn McCarthy, NY
Dennis J. Kucinich, OH
Deborah Pryce, OH
Betty Sutton, OH
David Wu, OR
Todd Russell Platts, PA
Jason Altmire, PA
Christopher P. Carney, PA
Patrick J. Murphy, PA
James R. Langevin, RI
Steve Cohen, TN
Al Green, TX
Eddie Bernice Johnson, TX
Sheila Jackson-Lee, TX
Silvestre Reyes, TX
Robert C. Scott, VA
Jim McDermott, WA
David G. Reichert, WA
Adam Smith, WA
Rick Larsen, WA
Tammy Baldwin, WI
Ron Kind, WI

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Posted in Innovation/Competitiveness, National Institutes of Health, Research Investment/Funding | 1 Comment »

“Dear Colleague” Letter Asks for 6.5% Increase for NIH Budget

Wednesday, March 5th, 2008

On March 4, Reps. Edward J. Markey, David G. Reichert, Janice Schakowsky, Christopher Shays, Joe Courtney and Christopher Smith began to circulate a “Dear Colleague” letter seeking congressional sign-ons for a letter to House Appropriations Chair David Obey and Ranking Member Jerry Lewis in support of a 6.5% increase in NIH funding.

The Administration’s budget request proposed funding NIH-supported research at the FY08 enacted level. This flat funding for the NIH is deeply troubling given the high rate of biomedical inflation. The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) estimates that in Fiscal Year 2009, the NIH budget will need to increase by 3.5% simply to maintain its existing purchasing power.

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More broadly, inadequate funding for biomedical research delays or ends cutting-edge research, making it more difficult to retain talented American researchers in the United States. Even worse, flat funding further impedes our ability to mitigate or delay the onset of the chronic diseases, which are the greatest contributor to spiraling health care costs.

Contact your representative, asking him or her to sign onto this letter. You can find their contact information at www.yourcongressyourhealth.org.

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Posted in Innovation/Competitiveness, National Institutes of Health, Research Investment/Funding, Your Congress-Your Health | No Comments »

Research Is Investment, Not Spending

Wednesday, March 5th, 2008

His district includes Princeton University, her district includes Argonne National Laboratory, and together Rep. Rush Holt, NJ, and Rep. Judy Biggert, IL, co-chair the Congressional R&D Caucus. They can be counted on to raise the important issue of underfunding of science; unfortunately few of their Congressional colleagues seem to be paying attention.

Yesterday, along with representatives of 30 science organizations, they had a news conference to stir up support for research funding at a time of year when congressional appropriations bills are being developed.

The big point they made is that if science had been properly funded over the last 10 years, the United States might not be facing an economic crisis now. They pointed to history to demonstrate that adequate congressional funding is not spending but investing. Biggert’s NewsRoom noted that since the end of World War II, about half the growth in the U.S. economy has come from scientific and technological innovation.

Posted in Innovation/Competitiveness, Research Investment/Funding | No Comments »

Research Advocates Reach Out to Congress

Tuesday, March 4th, 2008

In a letter to The Honorable John M. Spratt Jr., Chair of the House Budget Committee, and The Honorable Paul D. Ryan, Ranking Member, the Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research, Campaign for Medical Research, Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, National Health Council and Research!America ask for more consideration for NIH funding:

This year’s proposed budget marks the sixth consecutive year that the Administration has recommended flat funding for the NIH.
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Every day, forgone research opportunities mean that tantalizing advances in the treatment of chronic diseases remain beyond our reach.
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Research holds out the best hope for the treatment and delay of the onset of disease. The NIH is the only organization that supports the kind of research necessary to achieve those goals.

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Posted in National Institutes of Health, Research Investment/Funding, Research!America | No Comments »

Paying More and Benefiting Less

Tuesday, March 4th, 2008

The New York Times’ Robert Pear delivered a cogent analysis of the financial future of Medicare yesterday, including an intriguing guesstimate from a prominent health economist, Harvard’s David M. Cutler. He says it would be possible to cut 20% of Medicare spending “with no adverse effects on health” — presumably by hewing to tough standards for which medications and therapies are actually useful in preventing and treating chronic disease. But no one can yet identify which 20% is wasted.

There is a nonpartisan institution that is set up to find out where the wrong care is being delivered to the wrong patients at the wrong price. It is the federal government’s own Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

And, also yesterday, AHRQ reported the depressing news that the rate by which quality health care is increasing since 1994 actually fell last year.

So here we have it: We are paying more for less. We don’t stand for it at a car dealership, the grocery store or our Internet service provider. And we shouldn’t stand for it the health marketplace, either.

The next president will face vexing choices on health care, but the easiest one ought to be bolstering the budgets of AHRQ, which President Bush recommended get a 9% decrease in FY09 as well those of the National Institutes of Health (zero increase) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (a $433 million decrease.)

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Posted in Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality, Economic Impact, Research Investment/Funding | No Comments »

Capital Times: Why Global Health Research?

Tuesday, March 4th, 2008

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.”

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Posted in Global Health Research, Paul G. Rogers Society for Global Health Research | No Comments »

CDC Core Funding – A Billion Dollar Difference

Monday, March 3rd, 2008

In 2005, the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention’s core programs received $6.3 billion, which would be $6.8 billion in 2008 dollars, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ consumer price index. President Bush’s FY09 budget request for CDC core programs ($5.9 billion) is almost one billion dollars below what the CDC’s budget would have been if it had just kept up with inflation since 2005. But year after year, the administration has proposed massive cuts to the CDC.

Year after year, the administration has proposed massive cuts to the CDC – but this request is the lowest proposed budget of the Administration’s last four simply in terms of dollar amounts and BEFORE accounting for inflation.

The current budget request is also one billion dollars below the professional judgment budget of Dr. Julie Gerberding, CDC director. Her professional opinion in April 2007 was that the CDC’s core programs needed $6.9 billion.

The Campaign for Public Health has created an informative graphic showing the CDC budget’s trends (PDF). Visit CPH’s Web site (www.fundcdc.org) to find ways to advocate for this federal agency whose mission is to promote health and quality of life by preventing and controlling disease, injury and disability.

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Posted in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Research Investment/Funding | No Comments »