Each year when
Congress gets ready to set agency budgets for the coming year it listens to
recommendations from outside experts. This spring the APS had the
opportunity to testify before two House of Representatives Appropriations
subcommittees on FY 2008 funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
and for the National Science Foundation (NSF) and NASA. Excerpts of those
statements follow.
On March 27, 2007, APS President-elect Hannah Carey testified before the
House of Representatives Appropriations subcommittee on Labor, Health and
Human Services and Education on the NIH budget for FY 2008. The hearing was
well attended, and several Members of Congress asked questions of the
witnesses. Excerpts from the testimony appear below.
“On behalf of the scientific community, I would like to thank you for the
strong support that Congress has given the NIH. We know that Congress
understands the importance of biomedical research and we appreciate that.
The doubling of the NIH budget enabled the agency to expand its efforts to
address important challenges in biomedical science; challenges that we need
to surmount in order to solve our nation’s pressing health problems.
Increased research funding has allowed researchers to explore scientific
opportunities on an unprecedented scale and also made it possible to train
the next generation of scientists.
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| APS President Hannah Carey
testified before the US House of Representatives Appropriations
subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education. |
“The problem is that since the doubling of the NIH budget was completed, the
agency’s funding has not kept pace with the rate of inflation. The erosion
of its purchasing power has forced NIH to make tough choices. At the present
time, NIH is able to fund less than one out of every five grant applications
it receives. This means that top-tier research is not being funded, and that
has repercussions. Not only are some of the best ideas being left
unexplored, but we are also sending a very negative signal to our most
talented and creative scientists, including the scientific leaders of the
future.
“The APS joins the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology
and the Ad Hoc group for medical research in urging Congress to help NIH
‘get back on track.’ We support a 6.7% increase for the NIH in FY 2008. This
recommendation is based upon what is needed to bring the NIH budget to the
level it would have been at in 2010 if the agency had been keeping up with
inflation since the end of the doubling in FY 2003.
“Our nation faces many challenges, but we believe that a compelling case can
be made for building upon our investment in NIH-funded research. Research
has enabled great strides in the treatment of diseases that affect people
around the world, such as obesity, heart disease, diabetes and cancer, but
much more work remains to be done. Learning more about the underlying
mechanisms of disease will show us how to identify disease processes and
intervene at the earliest stages, before symptoms begin to decrease a
patient’s quality of life and increase the cost of medical care.
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| Carey’s testimony included, “We
at the APS would also like to stress the importance of NIH-funded
training programs for the next generation of scientists. |
“NIH is the principle source of funding for most physiology research, which
investigates the most basic biological mechanisms of life. Years of research
into the fundamental molecular components of biological systems has provided
the raw materials for understanding the functions of cells, tissues, organ
systems, whole organisms and even populations. However, despite tremendous
gains in biomedical research there remains a need to apply the findings of
molecular biology to organisms in all of their physiological complexity.
Doing so will lead to a better understanding of human health and disease,
and facilitate the development of new treatments and prevention strategies.
The scientific community is poised to move forward into these exciting new
areas of research, but doing so will require continued support of
investigator-initiated research and training programs at the NIH.
“We at the APS would also like to stress the importance of NIH-funded
training programs for the next generation of scientists. NIH not only
provides direct support to students through training grants made to
institutions across the country, but also through the support of programs
such as those at APS that strive to improve science education at all levels
and create a diverse scientific workforce by providing opportunities for
minorities to become involved in research activities.”
On April 24, 2007, Carey testified before the House Appropriations
subcommittee on Commerce, Justice and Science on the NSF and NASA budgets
for FY 2008. Excerpts from the testimony follow.
“The NSF fills a critical role in the research community by funding basic
research into the physical, biological and behavioral sciences. The agency
provides support for approximately 20% of all federally funded basic science
and is the major source of support for non-medical biology research,
including integrative, ecological, and evolutionary biology, as well as
interdisciplinary biological research. The majority of the funding NSF
provides is awarded through competitive, merit-based peer review, which
ensures that the best possible projects are supported. This has resulted in
an excellent record of accomplishment in terms of funding research that has
produced results with far-reaching potential. My own work on the physiology
of hibernation has been supported by the NSF. This research provides
information on the capacity of the mammalian body to tolerate extreme
environmental conditions, such as low temperatures and long periods with no
food intake. This not only informs us on how animals respond to changing
environmental conditions, but can also assist in the development of new ways
to improve human performance under extreme conditions.
“NSF advances our nation’s scientific mission by providing funds to support
individual research projects and also by sponsoring research in emerging
areas of science. For example, through NSF’s support the APS recently
conducted a workshop to explore the development of an integrated program for
comparative and ecological physiology. This type of program would address
critical issues in animal adaptation and their responses to environmental
change. The genomic revolution of the past few decades has given us the
tools to understand organisms at the molecular level. However, increasingly
there is a critical need for that information to be translated into informed
decisions that affect species preservation on our planet. Physiology
provides that crucial link that integrates information at the genomic level
with outcomes at the environmental level. It is our hope that Congress will
continue to provide support for such integrated studies.
“In addition to supporting and fostering top-tier research, the NSF also has
a long-standing and critical commitment to the support of science education
in our country. The American Physiological Society has benefited from this
support which allows us to provide training opportunities and career
development activities to enhance the participation of underrepresented
minorities in science. The APS was recognized for its efforts in 2003 with a
Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering
Mentoring (PAESMEM), funding for which was provided by NSF and was
reinvested in our education programs. We believe that NSF is uniquely suited
to administer science education programs of the highest quality, and we
recommend that Congress continue to provide federal funds for science
education through the NSF.
“The APS is aware that the House Science and Technology committee is
currently considering legislation to reauthorize the NSF. We support the
committee’s intention to increase the authorized level of funding for the
agency. The current version of the legislation also contains a requirement
that NSF make reports and citations resulting from NSF funded research
available to the public. As a scholarly publisher of 13 scientific journals,
we recognize the importance of making research results available to the
scientific community as well as the public. To that end, all of our journal
content, regardless of funding source, is available without restriction on
our website 12 months after publication. By requesting that project reports
and citations be made available to the public, instead of the final
peer-reviewed journal articles, the committee has found a way to accomplish
the goal of making research results available while respecting the copyright
of journal publishers and we appreciate its efforts.
 |
| APS President Hannah Carey with
Wisconsin Congressman David Obey, Chair of the Appropriations
Committee. |
“The NSF is an agency that excels at its mission, and the APS has enjoyed a
long partnership with the agency. This year, we join with the Federation of
American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) in calling for an
increase that would bring the NSF budget to a total of $6.5 billion in FY
2008.
“I would now like to shift gears and spend a few minutes discussing life
sciences research at NASA. It is disheartening to see NASA’s life sciences
budget slashed from approximately $1 billion in FY 2005 to $274 million in
FY 2007. These cuts erode the capacity to conduct the experiments necessary
to safely achieve goals that involve long duration manned spaceflight. The
cuts are especially troubling given the Administration’s commitment to
returning humans to space. Our failure to support research to understand the
effects of prolonged exposure to microgravity, increased levels of
radiation, disruption of sleep patterns and restricted movement on human
physiology will be highly detrimental to our efforts to harness space.
Problems such as bone and muscle loss, adaptations of the cardiovascular
system and disruption of the circadian rhythms represent significant risks
to astronauts. APS scientists are actively engaged in research that explores
the physiological basis of these problems, with the goal of developing
countermeasures. It’s important to keep in mind that research advances that
increase our understanding of humans’ responses to the space environment
often make their way to improvements in the clinical setting here on earth.
The APS joins FASEB in calling for an increase of at least $39.5 million for
biological research at NASA in FY 2008.”
For the full text of both testimony statements, go to:
http://www.the-aps.org/pa/.
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| APS President Hannah Carey in
front of the US Capitol. |
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Earlier this
year, the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) issued a
request for information on the development of a new strategic plan. Excerpts
from the comments submitted on behalf of the APS appear below.
“The American Physiological Society (APS) appreciates the opportunity to
provide input into the strategic planning process at the National Institute
of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS). The physiology community represents a
diverse group of researchers, many of whom have an interest in the
activities of the NIGMS. Below we address some of the questions posed on the
NIGMS strategic planning website.
“With respect to new and emerging areas, approaches and technologies in
basic biomedical research, we would like to stress the importance of
integrative approaches to research. Research into the fundamental molecular
components of life has provided the raw materials for understanding the
functions of cells, tissues, organ systems, whole organisms and even
populations. However, despite tremendous gains in biomedical research there
remains a need to apply the findings of molecular biology to organisms in
all of their physiological complexity. Doing so will lead to a better
understanding of human health and disease, and facilitate the development of
new treatments and prevention strategies. Recent breakthroughs in proteomic
and metabolomic techniques provide examples of the type of basic research
findings that should be translated to the whole organ and whole organism
levels. Carrying out this type of research requires formation of
multidisciplinary collaborations and research teams, and support of those
collaborations should be a particular priority for the NIGMS. We believe
that this is best accomplished by continuing to devote resources to high
quality, innovative investigator-initiated research through the R01 grant
mechanism.
“Currently, researchers are trained to approach biological problems at a
reductionist level, but in order to confirm insights and apply findings from
less complex systems (i.e., in vitro models) to whole organisms, researchers
need to develop a set of skills that combines knowledge of molecular biology
with in vivo systems. The key to bridging this knowledge gap lies in
providing training programs and opportunities in integrative biology.
Education should focus on bringing together scientists with diverse skills
and expertise to exchange knowledge, i.e., scientists who focus on the
description of molecular events would benefit from working with researchers
who define mechanisms in animal models and vice versa. The next generation
of researchers will need diverse skills to carry out translational research,
bridging basic and clinical science. In the past, the NIGMS has offered
short courses in integrative and systems pharmacology. These programs have
been highly successful and should be continued and expanded.
“Encouraging diversity in the biomedical research workforce is a priority
for the APS, and we appreciate the support that has come from NIGMS and
other NIH institutes over the years. In addition to NIGMS’ existing
programs, we suggest that applications for center grants and program project
grants should include a demonstration that efforts are made to include
underrepresented minorities and women as active members of research teams.”
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