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.
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Margaret Tuchman (55yrs, Dx 1980)- NJ-08540
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