Dear Research Advocate, Appreciation : As we approach Thanksgiving, please consider two opportunities to recognize public health heroes. #PHTYD : Taking a moment to participate in Public Health Thank You Day is a quick way to express thanks to members of the public health workforce. Always held on the Monday before Thanksgiving, PHTYD carries special meaning this year as the public health community faces down a dramatic escalation in the pandemic. Visit and share the PHTYD link for tools you can use to make Monday a true day of appreciation for public health heroes. Call for Nominations : Speaking of heroes, nominations are open for four Excellence in Achievement in Public Health awards, a...

This is the second in a series of blog posts exploring COVID-19 from a women’s health perspective. On October 20, 2020, the Office for Women’s Health Research (ORWH) at the National Institute of Health (NIH) held its 51st Meeting of the NIH Advisory Committee on Research on Women’s Health. The panel titled “COVID-19 and the Health of Women” featured insightful presentations on the pandemic’s distinctive impact on women's health. This blog series will explore each of the three sessions. In the second presentation of the panel, Dr. Neel Shah described the effects COVID-19 has had on pregnant people and their health care. It is unclear if pregnant people are more likely to be severely infected...

Here's a list of important dates coming up in the next few months. Stay tuned for further policy updates and reminders! The Senate returned for its lame duck session on November 9, 2020 . November 16, 2020 The House will return for its lame duck session. November 17, 2020 House Republicans will hold leadership elections to determine who will hold the top spots in the House Republican conference. November 18-19, 2020 House Democrats will hold leadership elections. Every leadership position gets a vote, regardless of whether it is a contested race. The top three Democrats, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD), and Majority Whip James E. Clyburn (D-SC), are...

Dear Research Advocate, The election is yet another way 2020 is testing us like no other year. Let’s pull through by pulling together and putting science to work as never before. The key question for us all, advocates of faster scientific, medical, and public health progress: What can we do today to advance that progress? Gather evidence and speak out . If R&D stakeholders want the next emergency package to include supplemental funding for stalled or reprogrammed research, we need to act now. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has said he would like to move a supplemental by the end of the year. Not only is funding needed for federal grants, but COVID has decimated grant...