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Dale: Hear! Hear! Raising funds privately is what I've done for the last 15 years--4 years for Parkinson's research. There is a tremendous interest in our patients in donating part of their own resources to help our research, but it's a never-ending challenge to identify and negotiate with potential donors. Like all fund-raising bodies, we are grateful for gifts large and small, but especially seek large, multi-year gifts targeting a specific research project. ( The economics of fund raising--the $ spent to raise X amount-- make this the most efficient way to operate.) We have a seed money program in-house funded with all privately raised monies. Our 'Discovery Fund' has sponsored innovative ideas for three years now and allowed researchers to accumulate the preliminary data that is required to sucessfully apply for federal funding. My biggest fear with the NIH program is that it would become mired in the same bureaucracy as NIH overall. To succeed, a program like this has to be very quick to respond or you have nothing but a missed opportunity in many cases. It's hard to imagine a federal program being as flexible and responsive as private institutions or even (i hesitate to mention it) the corporate sector. Nevertheless, someone has to take charge and try to be objective! Carole Cassidy At 01:58 AM 7/11/98 EDT, you wrote: >In a message dated 7/10/98 12:24:52 PM Eastern Daylight Time, >[log in to unmask] writes: > ><< Any thoughts? >> > >Hi Bruce: Yes there is a concern that the funding of the Udall bill may not >be all that we want. However there is a developing effort to conteract this >potential proplem. A private donor and the NPF hace developed a device called >a seed grant proprosal. During a meeting with Dr. Tom Chase at the NPF in >January to consider this issue the following conclusions were reached. People >with PD should not put all their hopes in one basket. It was the general >concessus of the meeting that Dir. Varmus of the NIH would fund the best >application for grants. Those being grants that presented the most potability >of success. In that frame work the idea that we should develop a pilot program >to encourage young researchers to work in PD research was proposed. We would >locate these researchers with potential and fund them to the tune of $25,000 >to $50,000 from private sources. These researchers would with in a short time >develop enough information to apply to the NIF for a full grant to continue >their work. I expect that you will hear more about this effort in the future. > >It is important that that we realize that we are really a small minority in >the totality of the health care issue. We future need to realize that we must >help our selves by raising funds for research. > >So yes there is concern about the impact of little or no funding in light of >the energy expended and the hope embodied in this effort, It was nice to see >that our champion, Senator Spector has recovered from his illness and has >returned to the floor of the Senate. > >After the Pittsburgh tribute for him at which Mohammed Ali was a guest Senator >Stratton made some private commitments to do all that he could to fully >appropriate the Udall Bill. > >Dale Severance The above thoughts are my own based on conversations and >events that I have participated in and do not reflect the views of any other >party. > >