global competitiveness

Since Research!America was founded 30 years ago, a key strategy in advocating for medical and health research has been public opinion. As President Abraham Lincoln said, “…public sentiment is everything. With public sentiment, nothing can fail; without it nothing can succeed.” In this blog post series, we’ll highlight the findings of our 2019 national public opinion survey on medical, health, and scientific research, and explore the trends in the data where we can. U.S. Global Standing in Science and Innovation in 2050 Of significance, 62% do not have confidence that America's global preeminence will strengthen - they either responded with Statement B, neither or not sure. Research!America'...

Federal R&D Funding Remains ’€œWoefully Inadequate’€ to Address Health Threats and Global Competitiveness Highlights: Overall health R&D spending in the U.S. increased by $4.3 billion (3.5%). Industry, philanthropy and voluntary associations led gains in R&D spending. Federal R&D spending rose 2.2% but a considerable amount is the result of agency reorganization and reclassification. ALEXANDRIA, Va.’€” December 17, 2013 ’€” After declining in FY10-11, health-related research and development (R&D) spending in the U.S. increased by $4.3 billion (3.5%) in FY11-12, according to Truth and Consequences: Health R&D Spending in the U.S. (FY11-12), the 10th edition from...

by Mary Woolley, Research!America President and CEO. This entry was originally posted as a guest contribution to PhRMA’€™s Conversations forum. A shift in attitude among elected officials is necessary if this nation is to succeed in combating disease and stemming the rise of health care costs. Federal funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and other agencies that conduct medical and health research has not kept pace with scientific opportunity, jeopardizing our ability to find cures for deadly disease and to maintain our global competitive edge. Medical research has not risen to the upper ranks of our nation’€™s priorities in the halls...

Alan I. Leshner, PhD In a recent op-ed published in the Toronto Star Dr. Alan Leshner, Research!America board member, writes that federal deficits in the United States and Canada ’€œpose a significant threat’€ to basic research. He notes that ’€œsome policy-makers seem to value near-term, industry-focused science more highly.’€ But adds that basic science has larger potential payoffs than applied research. ’€œThe most well-known example of life-changing basic research is of course Sir Alexander Fleming ’€™s accidental 1928 discovery of a mould (penicillin) that seemed to repel bacteria. German physicist Wilhelm Röntgen ’€™s 19th century efforts to pass cathode rays through glass now...