Research!America

Research!America President Mary Woolley and the Campaign for Public Health are quoted in the January/February issue of Women’s Health magazine (1.1M circulation), in an open letter from the magazine’s editors. The letter carries a number of our messages and calls on President-elect Obama to make medical research and public health a higher priority and to stop the erosion in federal research funding.

“Our nation is at a health crossroads,” says Mary Woolley, president of the nonprofit advocacy group Research America. “And the news is not good.”

“The only way to get control of our health-care costs is to innovate our way out of it,” Woolley says. “If we choose to. And we are not choosing to. There are clear consequences that are going to be paid on this.”

The full article is available in the current Women’s Health issue.

Your Membership and Support Made a Difference in 2008
Your Partnership is Invaluable in 2009 – Make a Year-End Donation Today

Thank you for your support during 2008 — a year of several first-time achievements in advocacy for research for health. In 2009 a new Administration and Congress will get to work to address our nation’s enormous economic challenges. Research!America is ready to play a major role, adding new programs and capacity to enable us to convince policymakers and the public of the critical role that research plays in assuring better health and fueling innovation and the economy. Research is about solving problems, and there is nothing this nation needs more of right now than SOLUTIONS!

Our alliance is uniquely positioned to convey timely messages, as illustrated by being asked to meet several times this month with the Obama Administration transition teams, including the economic team, as they plot the course for research leadership, health care reform, economic recovery and an economic stimulus package. We are advocating an $11.1 billion allocation to NIH, NSF, CDC and AHRQ, as well as underscoring the vital importance of re-positioning research for leadership in all the sciences. We are also advocates for making health care reform smart reform by assuring that it is powered by research.

We will celebrate our 20th anniversary in 2009. What better way to celebrate that milestone than to achieve substantial gains in support for research and a much more positive policy environment for its conduct? That’s our goal. Our respected alliance — including academia, independent research institutes, scientific and clinical societies, trade associations, industry, voluntary organizations, and individuals — is uniquely well-equipped to have an impact.

As 2008 draws to a close, I am pleased on behalf of our Board and my staff colleagues, to highlight below a few of the achievements of the past year, and to provide a glimpse of what is ahead for 2009. Your membership and support does make a difference — we have done much together and there is so much more to do! Make a donation today to help us achieve our 2009 goals.

With my personal gratitude for all you do for health and research for health, and with very best wishes for the New Year,

Mary Woolley
President & CEO

Highlights of Research!America’s advocacy and outreach in 2008:

Our advocacy and initiatives reached decision-makers, opinion leaders and the public

Research!America has worked for several years to engage Members of Congress and has achieved considerable success in persuading them to declare their positions on key research-related issues. As of December 2008, a total of 187 members of the new 111th Congress (35%) have shared their views via our innovative Web-based questionnaires. Our goal is to engage at least 50% of all Members of Congress by the end of the 111th Congress, placing the highest priority on key Congressional leaders and appropriators. In five years, given adequate financial and staff resources, we can engage 100% of the Congress.

Through our Your Candidates–Your Health 2008 voter education initiative, presidential and congressional candidates shared their views on health and research issues. Responses — including those of then-presidential candidates McCain and Obama — are at www.yourcandidatesyourhealth.org, which includes content in Spanish. The initiative garnered considerable media attention, reaching about 111 million people. Online outreach to blogs in all 50 states drove considerable traffic to the site as did online advertising on PARADE.com and Google.com. The site saw a 650% increase in traffic over our initial 2006 Your Candidates-Your Health site.

Our recent economic impact of medical and health research award presentation at Washington, DC’s Newseum included a moderated discussion between senior advisers to McCain and Obama and was featured in The Hill and Nature magazine’s blog. For more information and a podcast, visit www.researchamerica.org/economicimpact_award

Paul G. Rogers Society for Global Health Research Ambassadors promoted our global health research messages and poll results nationwide, presented at Congressional briefings and met with policymakers on Capitol Hill. Their meetings with journalists led to local media coverage around the country. A new cadre of Ambassadors will begin their advocacy work in 2009. For more information, visit www.researchamerica.org/pgr_society

International, national and regional media coverage of our work and messages helped us reach millions of Americans this year. Some highlights of that media coverage include:

• Our board chair, The Honorable John Edward Porter, was quoted in a front-page New York Times article on the importance of research for the U.S. economy and global competitiveness. The article also appeared in a number of other publications and Web sites, including The International Herald-Tribune
• Porter was also quoted about science in the Barack Obama Administration by a number of media outlets including ABCNews.com, the Associated Press, MSNBC.com and Science
• Nature Medicine named Research!America one of the 15 medical research advocacy groups to know and profiled Porter as one of 10 influential people to watch in biomedical policy
• Porter was profiled in The Scientist along with three other leaders shaping the future of science policy
• An editorial by Mary Woolley and Jim Wells, PhD, a University of California, San Francisco, professor, about global health was published by Science
• Research!America’s reaction to the resignation of NIH Director Elias A. Zerhouni, MD, was picked up by Bloomberg News, the Pink Sheet Daily and several Web sites
• Vice President of Science Policy and Outreach Stacie Propst, PhD, was a guest on public radio’s “Tavis Smiley Show”
• Porter, Woolley and Propst were featured in the Journal of Life Sciences
• Mary Woolley was interviewed by Ira Flatow on National Public Radio’s “Science Friday”
• Science magazine published an editorial about Your Candidates-Your Health authored by Porter
• The Scientist’s Editor-in-Chief Richard Gallagher, PhD, wrote about the voter education initiative in an editorial

Facebook, the popular social networking site, counts Research!America among its newest organizational members. In addition to our Public Health Thank You Day group that has attracted nearly 200 members, we also created fan pages for Research!America and our voter education initiative Your Candidates–Your Health 2008. As our media coverage and outreach continue to grow, help us broaden our media outreach in 2009 with your financial support.

We provided our members with advocacy resources — including publications, Web site content and public opinion polling data — to help you make the case for research

U.S. Investment in Health Research 2007 report, which estimates health research investment from all sources was $122 billion in 2007. This represents just 5.5% of the $2.25 trillion projected for 2007 health spending overall in the United States. Relative to total health costs, research investment is stagnant (www.researchamerica.org/release_08dec11_investment)

America Speaks! Poll Data Summary, Volume 9, the summary of our public opinion surveys conducted during the course of the year and widely used by our members as a valuable resource to promote their work and messages (www.researchamerica.org/uploads/AmericaSpeaksVolume9FINAL.pdf)

Our two ongoing series of fact-filled reports that highlight the benefits of research to improve health (www.researchamerica.org/issue_briefs). See two new fact sheets from the Investment in Research Saves Lives and Money series: “Vision and Blindness” (partner NAEVR) and “Global Violence” (partner Global Violence Prevention); and our new fact sheet from the Bridging the Sciences series: “Diabetes Discoveries” (partner Abbott).

Updated data on our Web site about the economic impact of research, listed by state (www.researchamerica.org/state_econ)

The first national survey of Hispanics’ opinions on health research (www.researchamerica.org/uploads/Hispanichealthpoll2007.pdf)

Our 100+ polls, commissioned since 1992 and as recently as last month, offer invaluable information and data for use by the public, media and Research!America members; we rely on your support to continue our polling activities in 2009 (www.researchamerica.org/public_opinion)

Research!America’s national and regional forums convene leaders in academia, industry, government, patient advocacy groups and the media providing ideal settings for cross-sector member interactions

We partnered with Pfizer, Tulane School of Public Health and Louisiana State University for “Mental Health and Public Health in Concert,” a forum in New Orleans and a Louisiana state poll, both widely covered by local media (www.researchamerica.org/neworleans)

In partnership with the Atlantic Media group (publisher of The Atlantic Monthly, National Journal and Congress Daily), The Rockefeller Foundation, United Health Foundation and AcademyHealth, Research!America sponsored a dinner for 25 leaders to discuss the potential for advancing health services research. Through our Science of Health Care Initiative, we will continue developing effective messages that emphasize to the public and policymakers the crucial role evidence-based health care plays in reforming our health care system

Our recent forum in San Francisco on global health — in partnership with Pfizer, UCSF, and UC-Berkeley — was convened to share insights about opportunities for, and barriers to, public-private partnerships in global health research (www.researchamerica.org/sanfrancisco)

Our 2008 National Forum, broadcast by C-SPAN, featured top research leaders, including the NIH, CDC, AHRQ and FDA directors. View the Web cast at www.researchamerica.org/forums

Looking Ahead to 2009

The 435 Project
In 2009, we are embarking on a cutting-edge, breakthrough advocacy initiative — The 435 Project — that will eventually encompass every Congressional district and underscore the importance of research as an economic driver. Over the next five years, Research!America will employ a combination of strategies, supported by state-of-the-art tools and our dedicated leaders and members. For more information, visit www.researchamerica.org/435_project

Your Congress-Your Health
In 2009, our Your Congress–Your Health 111th Congress initiative will reach out to members of the new Congress in order to assist our members in advocacy and so that we can tell Americans where their elected representatives stand on a range of research and other health issues. Read responses from the 110th Congress at www.yourcongressyourhealth.org

Annual Advocacy Awards Gala
Please mark your calendar – March 24, 2009, in Washington, DC – for Research!America’s 20th Anniversary Advocacy Awards Gala, an opportunity to salute outstanding advocates and our most important fundraising event of the year. Please support us generously in 2009. For a list of our distinguished awardees and for more information, visit www.researchamerica.org/advocacy_awards

As 2008 draws to a close, please consider supporting Research!America with a tax-deductible contribution before December 31. With your financial support, Research!America will be able to achieve our important goals on behalf of research and the health of the nation and the world. Please make a contribution online at www.researchamerica.org/become_member_or_donate. If you wish to help strengthen the alliance and impact of Research!America, please share this message with colleagues!

A recent article in The Journal of Life Sciences quotes data from Research!America’s 2007 US Investment in Health Research report and remarks from our Chair, the Honorable John Edward Porter:

“Cuts in spending power have had devastating effects on the research community and young scientists in particular,” says John Edward Porter, chair of Research!America. “Without real growth in our federal research investment, we lose the innovation that has built our economy and represents our future. Science will only be a funding priority if we do something about it.”

The rest of the article is available here.

Research!America President Mary Woolley participated in an expert panel held by the Center for Medical Progress at the Manhattan Institute. Panel members discussed their thoughts on the top priorities for the new Food and Drug Administration commissioner.

“In selecting the next FDA commissioner, President-elect Obama can signal determination to achieve the promise of personalized medicine. The FDA must be grounded in science; that means the new Commissioner must have deep knowledge of science and public health and must make that the foundation for all decisions. The agency must have a leader with strong management skills; a leader who will remain apolitical and who will exercise a level of independence, akin to that of the Federal Reserve chair.

The new Commissioner cannot succeed without a strong agency behind him or her. The FDA requires double its current resources just to fulfill its congressionally mandated responsibilities, and its workload will only grow as it strives to assure safety and maintain a flow of potentially life-saving new products.

According to recent public opinion surveys, Americans expect breakthroughs in the next decade in diabetes, cancer and heart disease, yet 57% believe we are not making enough progress. Americans deserve an FDA that is fully funded and armed with the leadership and vision to meet public expectations for research.”

Read the other panelists’ comments here.

WASHINGTON–December 20–Research!America’s CEO Mary Woolley responds to President-elect Obama’s announcement of physicist John Holdren, MS, PhD, professor of environmental policy and science at Harvard University, as director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and co-chair of the President’s Council of Advisers on Science and Technology (PCAST), and of Harold Varmus, MD, and Eric Lander, PhD, also as co-chairs of PCAST.

Read Mary Woolley’s entire statement here.

The Why Files is an online science publication supported by the Graduate School at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In this article, Research!America President Mary Woolley is quoted on the importance of recovering basic research through increased funding.

Basic research “is an appropriate part of an economic recovery package,” says Mary Woolley, president of Research!America, a non-profit consortium that supports public expenditures on health research, with about 500 member organizations. “When you think about all the science that been put on hold over the last six years, it’s more than appropriate that science recovers. When it recovers, it will not only stimulate the economy and allow us to stay globally competitive, which is something we have been slipping on; it will also recover our ability to attract and retain young scientists, who have been discouraged over last few years, and even been driven away.”

Furthermore, she maintains that some of the goals Obama has outlined require the careful, factual approach known as science. “Health-care reform must be evidence-based; built on science that helps us determine what is smart and what is not.”

Read the rest of the article here.

The Washington Independent quotes Research!America President Mary Woolley in this article about President-elect Barack Obama’s future administration and the positive signals it brings for science.

Some advocates want Obama to elevate his science adviser, the appointee who will head the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, to cabinet rank much like the national security advisor. In past administrations, this position has gone to physicists, and whether Obama departs from that mold remains to be seen.

“Having that person at place at the table will signal to the public that science is back in the process rather than sidelined and that’s been a theme that Obama has sounded during the campaign,” Mary Woolley, the president of Research America, a research advocacy group, said.

Read the rest of the article here.

Congressional Quarterly’s Annie Johnson writes about a recently released report from FamiliesUSA The World Can’t Wait: More Funding Needed for Research on Neglected Infectious Diseases. Johnson quotes Paul G. Rogers Society for Global Health Research Ambassador The Rev. Thomas G. Streit, CSC, PhD.

Part of that economic incentive comes by way of educated citizens in developing countries who immigrate to more opportunity-rich countries, where similar health problems are not a concern. The immigration of those people facilitates a cycle that developing countries cannot stop.

“It the product of our research can benefit people medically and socially, they can also help to stem this horrible brain drain,” said the Rev. Thomas G. Streit, director of the University of Notre Dame’s Haiti Program.

Strait also noted that research is among the nation’s top exports, fueling innovation and competition worldwide.

The article also mentions the November Capitol Hill briefing sponsored by Research!America and FamiliesUSA.

Increase Funding for NIH, NSF, CDC and AHRQ

President-elect Barack Obama and congressional leaders are working on economic recovery legislation that will hopefully be ready by Inauguration Day. Some health measures are expected in the bill, and now is the time to make sure that research is part of the package.

Today, Research!America sent letters to the Obama-Biden transition team and congressional leaders urging them to include $11.1 billion for research in the economic recovery package. The recommendations for each agency are as follows:

• NIH – $8.6 billion (FY08 budget = $29.2 billion)
• NSF – $1.4 billion (FY08 budget = $6.1 billon)
• CDC – $1.0 billion (FY08 budget = $6.4 billion)
• AHRQ – $97 million (FY08 budget = $335 million)

Let the Obama-Biden transition team know that your vision for the country includes expanding the U.S. investment in research to improve health. An infusion of $11.1 billion for NIH, NSF, CDC and AHRQ in the economic recovery legislation will produce immediate and long term dividends that protect good jobs, stimulate local economies across the nation, provide data to help make health care reform evidence-based and expand the research that is the foundation for innovation and global competitiveness.

The Web site http://change.gov provides many ways to offer input to the Obama-Biden transition team and is constantly changing. We have suggested using the “Share Your Vision” function, which is currently accessible, but make your voice heard about the importance of research in the economic recovery package using the best method available.

CQ’s HealthBeat quotes Stacie Propst, Research!America vice president of science policy and outreach, on the importance of investing in health research. The article also cites data from Research!America’s 2007 Investment in U.S. Health Research report.

In 2007, funding of health research and development was approximately $122 billion, or 5.5 percent of the projected $2.25 trillion of total health spending in the United States, according to a report released by the research advocacy organization. This percentage had increased from 3.5 percent in 1991 to 5.9 percent in 2004, but started to decline in 2005, the report found.

“It’s an absolute critical investment that this country can’t do without,” said Stacie Propst, vice president of policy and outreach at Research!America and co-author of the report.

Subscribers can read the rest of the story here.

Research Partners Forum: Partnerships in Global Health Research-A Bridge to the World

A San Francisco forum on public-private partnerships to foster innovations in global health took place Monday, featuring keynote speaker is CDC Director Julie Gerberding, MD, MPH.

Hosted at the City Club by the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health, the University of California, San Francisco Global Health Sciences, Research!America and Pfizer, the forum featured leaders from the Gates Foundation, area universities and the global health research community. Supported by Pfizer, the forum was moderated by Betty Ann Bowser of PBS’ “The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer.”

Download the podcast here.

Urge Your Elected Officials to Reverse the Trend

Today, Research!America released the report, 2007 Investment in U.S. Health Research. The nation spent an estimated $122.4 billion on research to improve health in 2007 while U.S. health expenditures totaled a projected $2.25 trillion. This means that out of every dollar spent on health in the U.S., just 5.5 cents is invested in research.

In this time of economic crisis, investing in research is essential to our nation’s health. Use the 2007 Investment in U.S. Health Research report to make the case for increasing funding for research to your elected officials. Let them know that research teaches us how to prevent and cure disease, provide better treatments and deliver the smartest health care. Making research a priority will also help retain and create high-paying jobs and ensure the U.S remains a global leader in science.

This article by Suzanne Bohan, published in the print and online versions of The Mercury News, The Oakland Tribune and The Contra Costa Times, mentions Research!America poll data, although it calls it a Charlton Research Company poll. The article compares the U.S. results to the poll data specific to the Bay Area.

With a new $4 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the University of California is on track to open a multicampus School of Global Health early next decade, likely in 2011.

In September, the 2011 date looked firm, said Haile Debas, executive director of Global Health Sciences at UCSF, and an international leader in the global health movement, but the deteriorating economy has left the date open ended.

…

Bay Area residents also evinced strong support for funding global health research efforts, with 84 percent polled by the Charlton Research Company saying that Americans would be economically better off — thanks in part to creation of jobs — if the government invested in research to improve health worldwide. And 62 percent think that U.S. residents should spend tax dollars to improve health in the United States and globally, as opposed to 38 percent who say “in the U.S. only.”

Read the rest of the article here.

Research!America member University of California Berkeley issued the following press release about an exciting new program that just received generous funding:

BERKELEY, CA, December 11, 2008—The University of California Berkeley today announced a $7 million pledge from philanthropist Henry Wheeler to establish the Center for Emerging and Neglected Diseases (CEND). The new program seeks to advance scientific discovery for disabling diseases—like drug-resistant tuberculosis, trypanosomiasis, and dengue fever—that primarily impact people in developing countries.

Read the entire press release from UC Berkeley here.

Report Estimates U.S. Health Research Funding at $122 Billion

WASHINGTON-December 11, 2008-U.S. funding of medical and health research from government and private sources was approximately $122.4 billion in 2007 according to a new report from Research!America. This represents just 5.5% of the $2.25 trillion projected for 2007 health spending overall in the United States. This is a stagnation relative to total health costs, a trend that began in 2004.

Read the entire release here.

CDC Director, Other Leaders in San Francisco Today to Discuss Global Health Partnerships

SAN FRANCISCO—December 8, 2008—Fully 84% of Bay area residents say that Americans will be better off if the U.S. government invests in research to improve health around the world, according to a new public opinion poll. Nearly all (96%) say that investing in scientific research is important to help create jobs in California and to keep California’s salaries competitive-a stronger response than from other areas in the state. Most Bay Area residents (97%) say it is important for California to be a leader in medical research. They cite the economy and preventing disease as top reasons to invest in global health research.

Read the rest of the release.

In ASBMB Today, Mary Woolley and Jim Wells, PhD, continue the conversation started in their October Science editorial, “A Populist Movement for Health?”

In “ASBMB Round Table: Jim Wells and Mary Woolley,” they discuss what research advocates can learn from Al Gore’s environmental crusade.

…the face of our effort has to convey both integrity and plausibility. In looking at possibilities, what Al Gore brought to the table was political savvy as well as a long-standing history of effort in the climate arena, platforms that should not be overlooked. The kind of people that have been equally as stunning in the health area already include Bill Gates, Mike Bloomberg, and Hillary Clinton. Bono provides another good example; while his efforts are more specific to global poverty, he does exemplify someone dedicating his life’s work to a cause.

Read the entire roundtable article here.

An online publication by Science for scientists and employers, Science Careers, included an article today about the future of science funding in the current economy. The optimism about President-elect Barack Obama’s promises about science need to be scaled back due to the economic landscape. Research!America Chair The Honorable John Edward Porter was quoted on the significance of appointing a Cabinet-level science adviser and the state of NIH funding.

Beyond funding, another crucial issue for science will be the identity and status of the new president’s science adviser, said John Porter, a former Republican congressperson and current partner in the powerful Hogan & Hartson law firm who heads Research! America , a major advocacy group for biomedical research. Other signs to watch, he said, include how fast the adviser is appointed, whether he or she gets Cabinet status and a position in the White House Office of Science Policy, and whether that office is close to the president in the West Wing or across the street in the Old Executive Office Building. Though those questions may seem mere inside-the-Beltway details, they will indicate whether science is a serious policy player.

Other crucial indicators, Porter said, will be Obama’s State of the Union message, which will outline his Administration’s priorities, and his first budget, which, given the Democratic Congressional majorities and electoral mandate at his back, is likely to carry far more weight than in recent years. Obama and the Congress, however, will be working to undo the results of 6 years that Porter termed “the disaster,” when the entire increase in discretionary spending went to defense, homeland security, and veterans. “Everything else was flat-funded,” including science, he said.

The Birmingham News in Alabama published a letter to the editor from Rashada Alexander.

Here in Alabama, we see investment in grants to our institutions and medical facilities, like the University of Alabama at Birmingham and UAB Hospital. In 2007, more than $205 million in National Institutes of Health funding came to Birmingham. It means making innovative treatments a reality. It means improved health. It means jobs.

Read Alexander’s entire letter here.

Last week, Research!America and our public health partners thanked the heroes who work every day to protect our health. Here are some of the ways that the media, schools of public health, local health departments and others marked this year’s Public Health Thank You Day:

The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health celebrates Susan Baker, MPH, ScD, for being named a public health hero as a part of Public Health Thank You Day.

The Daily Herald, a Chicago newspaper, published an article about Public Health Thank You Day, including remarks from Patrick J. McNulty, Public Health Administrator for McHenry County Department of Health:

“Every day, in every corner of America, our city and county public health professionals protect people from the ordinary and the extraordinary health threats. Most Americans understand the important ‘protection’ work of public health, but it is truly public health’s prevention, health promotion and protection efforts that help our children grow into healthy adults contributing to a healthy economy.”

The Department of Health of Nassau County, NY reminded residents how public health efforts kept them healthy in the past year.

An op-ed in The Oklahoman by Gary Raskob, PhD, dean of the University of Oklahoma College of Public Health, thanked public health researchers for their contributions to advancing public health:

Larry Regens, Ph.D., director of the Center for Biosecurity Research at OU, is working to understand chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosives threats from terrorism as well as emerging infectious diseases. The research helps protect our soldiers and strengthens homeland security through partnerships with numerous agencies, including the International Atomic Energy Agency, Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the Department of Homeland Security. His work alone has brought in more than $35 million in research funding to Oklahoma.

Overall, Public Health Thank You Day appeared in more than 45 different Web sites and publications, an exciting indication of Americans’ appreciation for their public health heroes!