And once more with feeling.......... Researchers Urge Congress Not To Micromanage NIH Budget WASHINGTON, May 02 (Reuters) - Despite bipartisan proposals to double the annual NIH budget of $12.7 billion, biomedical research leaders yesterday cautioned Congress that money alone is not enough to guarantee breakthroughs in understanding, treatment or prevention of disease. "Scientific work is not a commodity that can be purchased," NIH Director Harold Varmus testified before a hearing of the Senate Labor and Human Resources Subcommittee on Public Health and Safety. Dr. Kenneth Shine, President of the Institute of Medicine, agreed that "...a 'Manhattan Project' approach is likely to work only when the underlying principles of the problem are understood and it is primarily the application of these principles that is the goal." Subcommittee Chairman Sen. William Frist, MD (R-Tennessee), called the hearing as a result of an argument that broke out during the committee's 1996 debate over legislation to reauthorize portions of NIH's research portfolio. Several members of the committee wanted to earmark funding for specific diseases. On the one hand, Senator Frist said, he believes that NIH and other scientific leaders are best equipped to allocate specific dollars to the most meritorious scientific proposals. But, at the same time, "...the American people are contributing $13 billion of their hard-earned dollars to this enterprise and they have a right--indeed, an obligation--to exercise oversight, to influence direction, and to demand accountability." Dr. Varmus said that NIH has already improved its responsiveness to disease-specific and other advocacy groups, which, Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) noted, often make their appeals to members of Congress when they feel rejected by NIH. Dr. Varmus suggested that groups might do better to urge other actions such as NIH-sponsored workshops. Such events, Dr. Varmus testified, "...can make scientists think about applications...and begin to see possible synergism..." and can lead to new research proposals and new opportunities to attract researchers to a particular area of interest. Dr. Shine suggested that Congress and scientific leaders together develop a set of principles that could be used to guide funding decisions. Such principles, he testified, could include emphasizing research not likely to be pursued in the private sector, examining the impact of a particular research agenda on future research opportunities and examining the burden beyond mortality of a particular disease on the US and the world's population. http://www.reutershealth.com/news/docs/199705/19970502lea.html May 13, 1997 FY98 NIH Appropriations & Priority Setting House Appropriations Committee, Labor-HHS-Education Subcommittee Time: 10:00 Location: 2358 Rayburn Description: Chair John Porter (R-IL) will hold a hearing on FY98 appropriations for the National Institutes of Health. Harold Varmus, Director of NIH, is scheduled to testify. May 1, 1997 Biomedical Research Priorities Senate Labor & Human Resources Committee, Public Health and Safety Subcommittee Time: 9:30 Location: 430 Dirksen Description: Chair Bill Frist (R-TN) will hold a hearing on the biomedical research priorities. ========= Margaret Tuchman (55yrs, Dx 1980)- NJ-08540 [log in to unmask]