Campaign for Cures

If you had an opportunity to include public health priorities in the next president’s inaugural or State of the Union address, what would they be? Building more healthier communities and increasing investments in public health research to understand the root causes of health challenges were among the recommendations of panelists at a town hall moderated by Research!America president and CEO Mary Woolley at the American Public Health Association Annual Meeting on Monday, October 31. The presidential candidates are interested in improving our nation’s infrastructure but they’re not thinking about the health infrastructure, noted Julie Gerberding, M.D., MPH , executive vice president for...

With Election Day a few weeks away, voters still have time to ask presidential and congressional candidates their plans to advance medical and health research. To help ramp up these efforts, Research!America and partners have launched a Campaign for Cures online ad campaign urging voters to ask their candidates for President and Congress their views on medical progress. The ads, which are running during the month of October in key states and in the DC metro area on websites affiliated with CQ Roll Call, are driving visitors to the Campaign for Cures website ( www.campaignforcures.org ). The site features an interactive map with more than 500 candidate quotes on public and private sector...

Dear Research Advocate: First, it is not too late to sign up for our webinar, The Microbiome Initiative: A Closer Look , which will take place tomorrow , September 16, from 1:00 to 1:30 ET. I am not surprised that interest is strong in this program, which features Dr. Stefano Bertuzzi, CEO of the American Society for Microbiology. Please join us! I was in New York following the birth of my grandson (Ferdinand, 8 pounds, 14 ounces!) and missed our National Health Research Forum last week; however, I watched the video and the panel discussions were absolutely terrific! From the need for a standing public health emergency fund that grounds threat response in pragmatism rather than politics, to...

Dear Research Advocate: The number of Zika cases continues to rise and mosquito season won’t be over anytime soon. Yet Congress hasn’t acted -- a good reason to maintain a permanent public health emergency fund. We have such funds for weather-related emergencies like hurricanes and floods, enabling immediate action whether or not Congress is in session, and we have a similar funding mechanism for public health emergencies...the problem is, there are no dollars in it. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-03) introduced legislation earlier this year, the Public Health Emergency Preparedness Act (H.R. 4525), to provide $5 billion for such a fund. “Labor-H” Subcommittee Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK-04) has also...