In This Issue
From Capitol Hill
Advocates Anticipate Action on Appropriations
From Research!America
Research!America Calls for Action at AAAS S&T Policy Forum
Mental and Public Health 2+ Years after Katrina
In the News
Regular Features
President's Message
Member
Spotlight: Muscular Dystrophy Association
Advocates Anticipate Action on Appropriations
Champions and advocates are employing various tactics to increase federal funding for research to improve health. At press time, Congress was in the process of considering a hotly debated supplemental appropriations bill. While the majority of this funding would be dedicated to the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Senate version of the bill includes $400 million for the National Institutes of Health. The Campaign for Medical Research is working diligently on this effort.
Although most of their attention has been focused on the supplemental funding bill, the House and Senate Appropriations Committees are starting their work on the regular FY09 appropriations. Chairs David Obey (WI) and Robert Byrd (WV) will determine the amount of funding each Appropriations Subcommittee will have to work with as they write their respective bills for the House and the Senate.
The Coalition for Health Funding and the Coalition for Education Funding invited organizations to sign on to a letter to Obey and Byrd in support of a minimum $15 billion increase over FY08 for the Labor, Health and Human Services and Education (L-HHS-Ed) Appropriations Subcommittees. Research!America along with more than 500 groups signed on to the letter. Ensuring that the overall L-HHS-Ed allocation is as high as possible will allow for increases in FY09 funding for the NIH, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. For updates on FY09 appropriations, visit www.researchamerica.org/advocacy.
Research!America Calls for Action at AAAS S&T Policy Forum
Research!America
Chair The Honorable John Edward
Porter and President Mary Woolley participated in the 33rd Annual AAAS Forum on Science and Technology
Policy on May 8 and 9.
Porter, a former Congressman, criticized the current administration for giving science "little or no place at its table." He urged scientists to identify and support candidates for government science and technology positions.
As a panelist in a discussion of science advocacy, Woolley shared valuable lessons learned through her 25 years of experience in advocacy. She noted that Americans are generally positive about science and consider it a prestigious career. She added that scientists, however, must improve their communication skills and acknowledge their accountability to the public to be effective advocates.
Woolley shared results of a poll Research!America commissioned with ScienceDebate2008.com, which show that 83% of Americans believe it is important for the presidential candidates to talk about how science and research will affect their policy decisions. A majority (85%) say the presidential candidates should participate in a debate on how science can be used to tackle key problems, such as health care, climate change and energy. Download poll results at www.researchamerica.org/public_opinion.
Speaking on science and technology in the 2008 election, Porter criticized the current administration for giving science "little or no place at its table." He urged scientists to identify and support candidates for government science and technology positions early, sign on to ScienceDebate2008.com, reach out to the media, volunteer to be a science advisor for elected officials and run for office. He further challenged the audience to get out of their comfort zone and "use your creative powers to think of ways to bring the importance of science home to policymakers and the public alike."
Other speakers discussed budgetary issues, methods of advocacy, improving the communication skills of scientists, new uses of media for science, and the future of science and technology policy. For more information, see www.aaas.org/spp/rd/forum.htm.
Mental and Public Health 2+ Years after Katrina
Mental and Public Health in
Concert: Voices from Louisiana was
presented in New Orleans on April 29. This Research Partners Forum was a
collaboration among our sponsor, Pfizer
Inc, and academic partners Tulane University School of
Public Health and Tropical Diseases and
the Louisiana State University
Health Sciences Center.
Led by moderator Corey Hebert, MD, Tulane University Medical Center, experts discussed the challenges facing Louisiana—and New Orleans in particular—as the mental and public health infrastructure is rebuilt in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Research!America's Karen A. Goraleski presented the results of a statewide public opinion poll commissioned to gain a better understanding of how the public perceives mental health in Louisiana. When asked, "In what ways did the hurricanes impact your own health or the health of people in your community?" Louisianans mentioned mental health issues more than any other concern-including destroyed homes.
Panelist Ben Springgate, MD, MPH, director of the St. Anna Medical Mission, said, "People don't want to acknowledge, ‘OK, I need counseling.'" The reason may be the stigma associated with mental health issues that 68% of respondents believe exists in their community.
Keynote speaker Donald Palmisano, MD, JD, highlighted the need for more health professionals in the community. "You don't have to go to a third world country, you can come to Louisiana," he said of those looking for opportunities to help.
For a poll report and forum details, visit www.researchamerica.org/neworleans.
Media Matters
Coverage of Louisiana's Mental Health Research Needs
Research!America presented a Research Partners Forum in New Orleans (see above). The forum and poll were covered twice by The Times Picayune (New Orleans), twice by The Advocate/ABC2 Baton Rouge, by United Press International and The ASPH Friday Letter. Joe Gyan, Jr., New Orleans bureau chief for The Advocate, cited the poll data: "85% of Louisianans feel that it is very important for Louisiana to be a leader in medical and health research, yet only one third feel strongly that the state is a leader in those fields."
Lessons for Scientists in Advocacy
In an editorial in The New Republic, Chris Mooney writes about the importance of scientists engaging in politics. According to Mooney, scientists have been passive about policies affecting science since the 1970s for a number of reasons: the fear of partisan attacks or of cuts to research grants, and reservations about politics in general. Yet, says Mooney, "scientists should strap on the gloves" to address "contentious issues such as climate change and stem-cell research."
Mary Woolley, Research!America president and CEO, was cited in a report from the Global Forum for Health Research. In Equitable Access: Research Challenges for Health in Developing Countries, Woolley writes, "All researchers should speak out to inform-and to inform and speak out clearly, because policy-makers need to get the point."
Economic Impact of NIH Funding in California
Kenneth Trevett, president and CEO of the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, and Gary Toebben, president and CEO of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, authored a joint opinion editorial in the Daily Breeze (Torrance, CA) about the connection that exists between NIH funding and California's biomedical industry. They say that "statewide, the NIH pumps more than $3 million billion annually into biomedical research facilities, helping fuel an industry that employs 267,000 Californians with an average wage of more than $71,000 a year."
Health IT as Part of Health Reform
Research!America was a featured supporter of a Divided We Fail ad in Roll Call. AARP, the Business Roundtable, the Service Employees International Union, and the National Federation of Independent Business launched the Divided We Fail initiative to find viable health care reform solutions. The Roll Call ad asks for support of health information technology legislation as part of the broader discussion about health care reform.
FDA to Add 1,300 Positions
News wire service Reuters reported that the Food and Drug Administration will hire more than 1,300 new staff by October 2008 as part of a major expansion that is aimed at bolstering the agency's food and drug safety oversight.
President's Message
It's
June, and now only five months until we elect a new president, the entire House
of Representatives and one third of the Senate.
As Research!America's chair, The Honorable John Edward Porter, has been saying across the nation, the way to get science policy and funding issues onto the political radar in this heated election year is to "get in the game," even if politics is usually outside your comfort zone. He suggests calling a candidate with an offer to join the scientific advisory committee- or offer to set one up if the candidate doesn't already have one. "Voting is not enough," Mr. Porter tells scientists. "Use your creative powers to think of ways to bring the importance of science home to policy makers and the public."
The best time for everyone who cares about research to assure that our elected officials will speak up for research when they are in office is to engage them when they are candidates. If you're not aware of your candidates' positions on research-related issues, it may be because they haven't considered that your interests are important to many, many constituents, so they aren't talking about research. Let them know that this is unacceptable!
It's time to press candidates to talk about how they will put science to work to address the major long-term challenges facing our nation-health care, energy and climate change prominently among them. A recent poll tells us that Americans feel very strongly that candidates do so. Read about this poll above, and then put its content to work. Let's all work to assure that science shapes the debate in the months ahead!
Member Spotlight: The Muscular Dystrophy Association
The Muscular Dystrophy Association is a dedicated partnership between scientists and concerned citizens aimed at conquering neuromuscular diseases that affect more than a million Americans. MDA combats neuromuscular diseases through programs of worldwide research, comprehensive medical and community services, and farreaching professional and public health education.
In
its more than 50 years, the MDA has dedicated nearly $800 million to scientific
discovery. In 2008, MDA's research budget is about $40 million, according to Gerald C. Weinberg, president and CEO of the association. MDA funds more
than 350 projects in the United States and globally.
"Our funding program is unique in that we are ‘hands off' from one phase of research to the next so good ideas don't get lost before they can be translated into therapies," Weinberg said. "Our program is designed to fill gaps and leverage MDA funds as effectively as possible. Our focus is not to simply fund good science, but to obliterate neuromuscular diseases."
MDA's successes include significant contributions to the scientific discoveries that yielded clinical treatments for polymyositis, myasthenia gravis and Pompe disease.
All MDA's advocacy efforts-government affairs and legislation, health policy, fund-raising and awareness-raising campaigns-are aimed at advancing research and discovering treatments and cures for neuromuscular disease. Federal investment in medical and health research is critical to the impact of MDA's work.
"Particularly in the area of rare disease, where incentives to develop drugs are not as readily apparent as diseases with larger markets, investment from government and private sources is critical to achieving progress," Weinberg said. "By investing in these disease areas with public and private resources, we can actually change the market dynamics to favor therapy development even for rare disease."
In addition to being an alliance member, MDA also is a partner supporter of Research!America's Your Candidates-Your Health 2008 voter education initiative.
"Your Candidates-Your Health builds on the MDA's own advocacy efforts," Weinberg said. "As Americans, we often lose sight of the fact that our elected officials are actually public servants- people whom we have selected to represent the issues that matter to us.
"This initiative provides incredible access to candidates, delves into questions of substance in a clear and concise format, and, we hope, will help our community make informed political choices and fill the halls of Congress with representatives who actually do represent us-an ideal, yet attainable, goal."
Research!America honored MDA National Chairman Jerry Lewis with its 2002 Isadore Rosenfeld Award for Impact on Public Opinion. PARADE magazine, a Research!America partner, regularly publicizes the MDA's work.
"It's difficult to adequately convey the impact PARADE has made on our mission, visibility and the public's awareness of muscular dystrophy," Weinberg said. "PARADE cover stories about the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon have become an iconic, end-of-summer tradition, reminding Americans to tune in."
For more information, visit www.mda.org.
Research!America members can download the entire June Research Advocate
using their member log in. E-mail kfuller@researchamerica.org if you
need your log-in information.