MLA-Phil

In new news: (forwarded from MLA National) On March 19, 2007, a forthcoming report on the future of biomedical research that will be addressed within the context of the FY08 appropriations bill. Senator Harkin and leading universities to release new report on how flat funding of biomedical research threatens scientific and medical progress. Following a Senate Appropriations Labor-HHS Committee hearing on funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), scientists from a consortium of nine leading academic institutions will release a major report on the state of biomedical research in the United States. The report will explain how consecutive years of stagnant budgets have resulted in promising research being halted in mid-stream, seasoned researchers challenged in sustaining scientific progress, young investigators concerned that uncertain future funding may force them to leave careers in science, and an undermining of U.S. global leadership in biomedical research. The group will offer examples of how flat funding of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) could affect advances into treatment for cancer, spinal cord and brain injuries, and Alzheimers disease.

Subcommittee Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA) will join top scientists to discuss the implications of the reports findings for the 2008 budget and beyond.

The report will be available at the press conference. Its authors include the University of California system, Columbia University, Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, Partners Healthcare, University of Texas at Austin, Washington University in St. Louis, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Yale University.

Where: 216 Hart Senate Office Building
When: Monday, March 19, 2007 3:00- 4:00 p.m.
Who:Sen. Tom Harkin, Senate Appropriations Committee
Edward Miller, M.D., Dean of the Medical Faculty, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Stephen Strittmatter, M.D., Ph.D., Professor of Neurology and Neurobiology, Yale University School of Medicine