For nearly 30 years, Research!America and its partners have held an annual National Health Research Forum that assembles top federal officials, leaders from academia, patient advocacy, industry, the philanthropic community; and distinguished national media to highlight health and medical research issues vital to the wellbeing of our nation, our economy, and patients across the globe.

Purpose

With our supporters, Research!America hosts meaningful conversations at the Forum aimed at capturing the power of research & development to revolutionize health and health care, exploring new and potentially overlooked opportunities and challenges, and confronting current and looming health threats.

The issues and challenges we address at the Forum are identified and curated by our expert policy staff, who bring decades of policy, government, and advocacy experience to the process. The goal is to identify pressing policy issues that reflect the priorities of the health and science research ecosystem.

The 2022 National Health Research Forum hosted thoughtful and insightful discussions around Clinical Trial Diversity, Public-Private Partnerships, Breakthrough Device pathways, Trust in Science, Workforce Diversity, and Patient Empowerment. Each session explored issues at the intersection of public policy and medical and scientific progress.

Audience

Each year the Forum hosts approximately 20 federal and congressional leaders, including senior leadership from prominent federal research agencies like NIH, CDC, EPA, FDA, and the NSF. Recent forums have included roughly 100 guest speakers.

Research!America began presenting the Forum virtually in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. While born out necessity, virtual programming has enabled us to reach a much broader range of participants. In 2022, the Forum attracted nearly 1,000 registrants. Participation at individual sessions varied depending on the topic and format and ranged from 50 to more than 200 attendees We held an in-person reception in 2022 following the virtual programming that included roughly 100 guests.

Our Forum audience is composed of senior leaders representing the U.S. R&D continuum, including:

• patients and individuals with senior level positions in patient advocacy organizations;
• students in scientific disciplines and established researchers;
• government relations and C-suite personnel from industry, academia, independent research institutes, philanthropies, and scientific societies;
• Executive branch and Congressional staff; and,
• members of the general public.

Event Details & Promotion

The 2023 Forum will include both virtual and live components over the course of two days. The event will culminate (meeting restrictions permitting) with in an in-person networking reception in Washington, DC that will include leaders from multiple federal agencies and from across our membership.

We publicize the event widely through traditional media, social media, and geo-targeted marketing. Each year, the Forum speakers and topics garner media interest from nearly 20 different outlets.

To view the event details for our past National Health Research Forums, please select the link for the year indicated.

Support the Event

To learn more about supporting the Forum, contact Katie Goode, Senior Director, Alliance Development and Membership, at 571-482-2706 or at kgoode@researchamerica.org.