Article in the 2006 Lasker Awards Brochure by The Honorable John Edward Porter
By The Honorable John Edward Porter
Chair, Research!America
In the mid-1940s, the Lasker awards were new and Albert and Mary Lasker were pioneering salesmanship for medical research, just as Albert Lasker had pioneered modern advertising, which he called "salesmanship in print." The Laskers knew politics, too, and put that to work, walking the halls of Congress "friend-raising" for medical research. The money followed, as the Laskers taught us that it generally does-"friend-raising before fund-raising." Their arguments for higher investment in medical research were right then, as they are today-simply put in terms of American leadership in innovation, of economic growth, of lives saved and costs saved. "If you think research is expensive, try disease."
At present, funding for research has been hard-hit. Last year, the NIH received its first actual cut in 30 years, CDC's budget was cut, and AHRQ, flat. Federal research funding for 2007 may not look any better. Is this all we can expect in the near future, or is there light at the end of the tunnel?
The light at the end of the tunnel is here today. The extraordinary contributions to research and health of the individuals honored today are worthy of our gratitude and admiration. These are the great men and women of science who are mentoring future scientific leaders, making groundbreaking discoveries to fight cancer and mental illness-delivering the return on our investment in research and helping the next generation of scientists to succeed.
Imagine who will receive the Lasker awards 20 years from now. They will be quite a distinguished group. They will have been mentored by today's best researchers, and, like previous Lasker laureates, many will become Nobel laureates as well. I imagine that, thanks to their work, mental illness will no longer be a stigmatized and little-understood threat to well-being. I imagine that, thanks to medical research, we will have tamed cancer and banished chemotherapy to history books.
"Then - Now - Imagine" is the perfect theme to capture the excitement and promise of medical research. It's a gratifying exercise to consider the wonders of "now" based on investments made "then." The accomplishments of medical research over the past 60 years have taught us to think big about what will come next-to take the "imagine" step aggressively The Laskers' pioneering demonstration of successfully making the case for research illustrates the power of this theme. Similarly, the Director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Elias Zerhouni, employs this thematic approach. He notes that 30 years ago, deaths from heart attack or stroke before age 60 were common, but since then, we have achieved a 30% decrease in mortality from heart disease, for just $3.70 annually per American citizen.
"Then - Now - Imagine" has long been the driving spirit of science. This theme expresses a commitment to discovery and its translation to better health. The United States, founded by leaders of the Enlightenment, has always had high aspirations realized through a commitment to innovation. Americans today are still intrigued by the challenge to innovate. Public opinion data confirms this impression, as does everyday experience. Science promises-and delivers-better products, better jobs, better health and better quality of life. The combination of societal aspiration and the record of return on investment in science would seem to make investment in science almost irresistible.
But even when Mary Lasker was demonstrating her advocacy skills for research, there were rough stretches. What turned things around? We can learn from history and turn things around now, as we must do. We saw in the 1990s that bad news can be turned into good, and bad numbers into better numbers-and even pacesetting ones. We need to inspire policy makers and the public about the future of science, research and America's global leadership.
Business leaders can effectively demand attention, as did Albert Lasker when he led a successful drive to double cancer research funding in the 1940s. Patient advocates who refuse to "just be patient" can challenge elected officials to act. People fighting for research to cure AIDS, breast cancer, juvenile diabetes and Parkinson's disease, among others, illustrate the power of advocacy. Unified advocacy by the research community has been very effective, as was demonstrated by the all-out effort to double the NIH budget.
Leaders who stay the course make the greatest difference. Mary Lasker is the right model. We need more leaders and we need them now, when threats to research abound. We need to do more friend-raising to enable our fund-raising. We need to put salesmanship back in the equation and to make "Then-Now-Imagine" our explicit theme.
We need to think and act politically, as the Laskers did. I don't mean in a partisan manner. This is not a partisan issue. The stem cell research controversy is cast by some as such, but to do so overlooks Republican proponents like Senators Orrin Hatch, Kay Bailey Hutchison and Trent Lott. We know their views and those of the relatively few Congressional champions for medical research, but most of us don't know the positions on medical research issues of most incumbents running for re-election this fall, not to mention their challengers. The Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation has teamed with Research!America to change this state of affairs through a new voter guide, Your Candidates-Your Health, to provide stakeholders in research and the public with information on candidates' positions. The novelty and value of this resource has earned attention from PARADE magazine, which will soon alert its enormous national readership to the importance of checking this guide before voting. Through this and other channels, more people can weigh in on behalf of research.
That's what advocacy for research is all about-many people who care about research making their convictions clear to their elected officials. It starts with you, who are most committed to research. You are part of the light at the end of this tunnel. Investment in research hangs in the balance, but you can change the image of things to come. Put the "Then - Now - Imagine" theme to work. Make the future a bright one for research and researchers, and the American public that wants research to succeed.