Guest post: The MIT Science Policy Initiative visits Capitol Hill to support the future of research & development in the US
Amidst difficult budget negotiations on Capitol Hill, on March 12 and 13, MIT students and postdocs traveled to Washington to sound a warning about the future of science and engineering research in this country if indiscriminate cuts to federal programs continue.
In addition to mostly flat funding in recent budgets, language in the Budget Control Act of 2012 calling for across-the-board cuts—known as “sequestration”—took effect on March 1. These cuts, in addition to the ongoing erosion of federal funding for scientific research, decrease America’s ability to maintain economic growth and remain globally competitive, the 17-person delegation from MIT urged in meetings with Members of Congress and their staff. This funding crisis is creating fiscal shockwaves that will echo through the innovation system for years to come.
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Research!America Hosts NTD Panel at CUGH Conference
Did you know that neglected tropical diseases such as dengue, Chagas and hookworm affect over 1.4 billion people worldwide, including individuals here in the U.S.? To discuss the global burden of NTDs and how federal funding and policy decisions impact the research and development of tools to combat these diseases around the world, Research!America will be hosting a panel at the Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH) conference*. The panel, “Are NTDs a Growing Threat? Research, Access and Next Steps,” will be held on Thursday, March 14 at 1:30 p.m. at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel.
The conversation will be moderated by Karen Goraleski, Executive Director of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH) and will feature the following panelists: Rachel Cohen, Regional Executive Director of the Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi); Brian D’Cruz, Emergency Physician with Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières North America; LeAnne Fox, Medical Officer and Team Lead on NTDs at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC); Kristy Murray, Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the National School of Tropical Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine and Mark Rosenberg, President and CEO of the Task Force for Global Health.
*Please note that attendance at the CUGH conference requires registration fees. For more information, please visit the conference website here.
Report Highlights Need for More R&D Funding for Neglected Diseases
On December 3, Policy Cures released its fifth annual G-FINDER report, a comprehensive survey of funding for research and development for neglected diseases. The report tracks global public, private and philanthropic investments into R&D for 31 diseases, including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and NTDs. In positive news, this year’s report shows that total funding has actually increased by $443 million since 2007.
The report demonstrates that government funding, which accounts for over two-thirds of all investment, is increasingly going toward basic academic research, rather than product development. Research!America believes it is vital that the entire research pipeline be fully funded. Basic research will help us understand the best ways to tackle these neglected diseases and give us a better understanding of disease and the human body. However, we also need robust funding for the development of urgently needed tools like drugs, vaccines and diagnostics. This urgency is worsened by the fact that private and philanthropic investments in product development for NTDs have also decreased.
Because NTDs disproportionately affect the “bottom billion” or individuals earning less than $1.25 per day, there is essentially no market demand for new NTD tools, so the private sector is unlikely to fund these projects. Dr. Moran, director of Policy Cures, believes that governments must step up to the plate, saying that “if [governments] want products for neglected diseases, they must fund product development as well as basic research.”
-Morgan McCloskey, global health intern