Blog

Research!America is dedicated to ensuring a strong public and private sector investment in research to improve health at a level warranted by scientific opportunity and supported by public opinion. Member organizations and others share their perspectives on a wide variety of topics relating to public and private sector research and innovation, and public health. The views expressed by contributors are their own and not the view of Research!America.

Recent Blog Posts

Mary Woolley's Weekly Letter: The research environment

By Mary Woolley on May 9, 2019
Dear Research Advocate, Yesterday, the House Appropriations Committee passed the Fiscal Year 2020 Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies funding bill. While there is great news in the bill, it must be considered in the grim context of the across the board cuts that will happen if Congress does not act to raise the budget caps. Our statement addresses both the good and bad news. The bill, which Congressional leadership is expected to bring to the House floor in June, includes more than $8.25 billion for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, over $41 billion for the National Institutes of Health, and $358 million for the Agency for Healthcare Research and...
Continue Reading

Spring 2019: The Research Advocate

By Research!America on May 8, 2019
The Spring 2019 Research Advocate is now online! Highlights from this month include: Research!America celebrates its 30th anniversary at the Advocacy Awards Dinner The launch of the Raise the Caps campaign Research!America's new mission statement Johnson & Johnson announces a partnership with the National Academy of Medicine The 30th annual Research!America meeting of members Full table of contents: Research!America Celebrates 30th Anniversary at Advocacy Awards Dinner Looking Back at Accomplishments of the Past and Potential for the Future: Research!America’s 30th Annual Meeting of Members President's Letter Research!America Launches Raise The Caps Campaign Mary Woolley Inspires Young...
Continue Reading

Mary Woolley's Weekly Letter: Leadership matters

By Mary Woolley on May 2, 2019
Dear Research Advocate, The House Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee markup of Fiscal Year 2020 spending priorities on Tuesday featured lots of good news. You can watch the subcommittee’s deliberations here and find draft text of the bill here . The next stop is consideration by the full Appropriations Committee on May 8, 2019. Some highlights: $41.1 billion for the National Institutes of Health, an increase of $2 billion above last year; $8.3 billion for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, $921 million above the 2019 enacted level, including new funding for efforts to support modernization of public health data systems (for example, to track and prevent the spread of...
Continue Reading

Mary Woolley's Weekly Letter: Opportunities and Imperatives

By Mary Woolley on April 25, 2019
Dear Research Advocate, I am very pleased to announce that Research!America’s 2020 Advocacy Awards nominations are now open! Act now to nominate those you want to recognize for outstanding advocacy leadership on behalf of scientific, medical, or public health research. The awards will be presented at our dinner next March. When members of Congress return to Washington, D.C. next week, the House will begin considering Fiscal Year (FY) 2020 appropriations bills, with the Labor-HHS Subcommittee scheduled to mark up their bill on April 30. Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) has released a new report explaining why our nation needs a well-resourced public health system (which pivots on a well-...
Continue Reading

Mary Woolley's Weekly Letter: Public Health at the Forefront

By Mary Wooley on April 18, 2019
Dear Research Advocate, Congress is officially out of session this week, but because negotiations to determine whether budget caps are raised are continuing, advocacy must continue as well. More than fifty organizations signed on to an AAAS-led letter to Congressional leaders asking them to prioritize federal research investments, raise the budget caps, and provide sustainable and robust investments for scientific research in Fiscal Year 2020. Now it’s time for more individual hands on this deck. Sign the Raise the Caps petition here . One of the concerns Members of Congress are likely hearing about back home is a disease once declared eliminated -- measles. More than 500 cases have been...
Continue Reading

Mary Woolley's Weekly Letter: Then and Now

By Mary Woolley on April 11, 2019
Dear Research Advocate, This letter is my 400th, having started this journey in July 2011. Over the years I have received a wealth of high-content feedback, including strong disagreement from time to time. Our exchanges have helped refine Research!America’s advocacy and heighten our impact. It has been, and continues to be, a true privilege to share and discuss advocacy and public engagement topics with you over the years. Thank you for the opportunity!! Ironically, my first weekly letter in July 2011 concerned the threat posed by the possible passage of the Budget Control Act (BCA), the same law that set in motion a dramatic across-the-board budget cut and set up nearly a decade’s worth of...
Continue Reading

Mary Woolley's Weekly Letter: Taking Action is the Right Answer

By Mary Woolley on April 4, 2019
Dear Research Advocate: Yesterday, the House Budget Committee approved (on a party-line vote, 19-17) legislation that would raise the fiscal year 2020 (FY20) non-defense discretionary (NDD) spending cap by $631 billion, a 5.7 percent increase over the 2019 cap, and raise the defense cap by $664 billion, a 2.6 percent increase. The House is expected to consider the legislation on the floor early next week. The fact that legislation to raise the caps is being considered signals important progress. Our science-focused Raise the Caps campaign and other individual and collaborative advocacy efforts like that of NDD United are pushing hard for action, because -- as Senate Appropriations Chair,...
Continue Reading

Mary Woolley's Weekly Letter: Keeping a finger on the public pulse

By Mary Woolley on March 28, 2019
Dear Research Advocate: Speaking recently to the “New Voices” group at the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine, as well as to young scientists during a visit to the University of Miami, I was energized by the passion, determination and commitment they all have for engaging the public. I discussed highlights of the survey findings we feature in Research!America’s new poll data summary A new survey question probes awareness and support for engagement of scientists in the policy making process. Other survey highlights include trend data that might surprise you — like the 10% increase since 2015 in those who say they would be willing to pay more in taxes if the money went to...
Continue Reading

Mary Woolley's Weekly Letter: Spring deadlines

By Mary Woolley on March 21, 2019
Dear Research Advocate: Yesterday was the first day of spring and with it comes the hustle and bustle of appropriations season. Rumor has it House Appropriations Chairwoman Nita Lowey (D-NY) plans to begin marking up fiscal year (FY) 2020 legislation as soon as late April with a Defense/Labor-HHS mini package among the first bills. It is therefore urgent we make the case now, with one voice, for strong FY20 research funding. Deadlines are close: Members of Congress must submit their individual requests to the House Labor, Health and Human Services, Education (Labor-H) Subcommittee by March 28, the Agriculture, FDA Subcommittee by April 4, and to the Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS)...
Continue Reading

Research!America Launches Raise the Caps Campaign

By Research!America on March 19, 2019
Designed to reduce the federal deficit, the Budget Control Act of 2011 placed strict, austerity-level “sequestration” caps on federal spending when Congress failed to develop a responsible plan for reducing the national budget. The caps are not a legitimate, thoughtfully designed policy suggestion, but rather a fallback budget mechanism—a blunt instrument that ignores current national threats and opportunities, and does not account for the strategic interests of our nation. Historically, Congress has been aware of this issue and responded accordingly, acting every two years to modify the Budget Control Act and increase the level of discretionary spending appropriated each year. More...
Continue Reading

Pages

Twitter

Tags

21st Century Cures advocacy Advocacy Awards AHRQ Alzheimer's biomedical research Campaign for Cures cancer CDC FDA Francis Collins global health health research innovation Mary Woolley medical progress medical research mental health National Health Research Forum National Institutes of Health NIH NSF public health Public Health Thank You Day research Research!America science sequestration weekly letter weekly message
More

Blogroll

Previous Posts

October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017
October 2017
September 2017
August 2017
July 2017
June 2017
May 2017

Take Action

 

Contact Congress

 

Get Informed

 

Become a Member

 

Make a Donation

How Can I Help?

Don't leave advocacy to others: sign up for our advocacy alerts and send a message through our website.

Other Advocacy Tools:

You can change the image of things to come. But you can’t do it sitting on your hands … The science community should reach out to Congress and build bridges.
The Honorable John E. Porter