Monthly Archive for October, 2011

Use of Chimanzees in Research

By Stephanie Ferretti. Published on October 26, 2011 in Government Relations. 1 Comment Tags: , .

If you missed the recent talk on RadioTimes take some time to listen to the podcast  highlighted below. Did you know the United States is only one of two countries still using chimpanzees in biomedical research? According to WHYY Radio,

There are over a 1000 chimpanzees kept in laboratories in the United States.  Now a bill in Congress, the Great Ape Protection and Cost Savings Act, wants to ban the use of chimpanzees for medical research in both federal and private laboratories.  But some scientists argue the chimpanzees, because they are so closely related to humans, are vital in research around diseases like hepatitis C and vaccine development.  Others argue that using such intelligent and social animals in laboratory research is unethical and unnecessary.  Get both sides of the debate from two scientists:  JOHN VANDEBERG is the chief scientific officer for the Texas Biomedical Institute and the Director of the Southwest National Primate Research Center, and BRIAN HARE, a professor of Evolutionary Anthropology at Dukes University’s Center for Cognitive Neuroscience.

~Marty Moss Coane RADIOTIMES~

Listen to the mp3 Podcast

Action Needed: House Sign-On on NIH Funding

By Stephanie Ferretti. Published on October 24, 2011 in Government Relations. 0 Comments

By close of business, Wednesday, October 26th, please consider contacting your member of the House of Representatives and encourage him/her to sign onto this letter of support for FY 2010 funding.  The Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research has provided the following background information about the letter and its purpose. 

Read more» » »

Board Meeting

By Gary. Published on October 7, 2011 in General News. 0 Comments Tags: .

Title: Board Meeting
Location: 200b Scott Library; Jefferson Univ.
Start Time: 09:00
Date: 2011-10-18
End Time: 12:00

NIH Funding 2012

By Stephanie Ferretti. Published on October 6, 2011 in Government Relations. 0 Comments

Dave Moore of the AAMC has announced the House Appropriations Committee released its draft FY 2012 spending bill. The bill provides up to $10 million within the Office of the Director’s Discretionary Fund, of which up to $2 million “may be used to establish the Cures Acceleration Board within the Office of the Director’s Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives to develop a plan with prioritized recommendations ”. The funding level in the bill will support the request level of at least 9,150 new and competing research project grants, an increase of about 450 from the fiscal year 2011 projection.

Fiscal Year 2012 Appropriations Update

By Stephanie Ferretti. Published on October 6, 2011 in Government Relations. 0 Comments

President Obama signed legislation that keeps the government funded through November 18, giving Congress time to continue working on Fiscal Year 2012 Appropriations legislation. Information on the Continuing Resolution Act, 2012.