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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
APS Contact
Chris Guilfoy
Office: (301) 634-7253
cguilfoy@the-aps.org
American Physiological
Society President-Elect Urges 6.7 percent increase for Biomedical Research
WASHINGTON – (March 27, 2007) Hannah V.
Carey, Ph.D., president-elect of The
American Physiological Society (APS;
www.the-aps.org) and a professor at the University of Wisconsin School
of Veterinary Medicine, today urged Congress to increase funding for the
National Institutes of Health (NIH), the nation’s largest funding source for
biomedical research. A 6.7 percent increase in funding for the next fiscal
year “will help solve pressing health problems such as obesity, heart
disease, diabetes and cancer,” Carey told the U.S. House Appropriations
Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education.
Carey expressed appreciation on behalf of the
scientific community for doubling the NIH budget between 1998 and 2003.
Since then, however, funding for the agency has not kept up with inflation.
In fact, the NIH funds fewer than one out of five biomedical research grant
applications, meaning that top-tier research is not being funded, Carey
said. As a result, some of the best medical and scientific ideas are being
left unexplored, and our most talented and creative scientists and our
scientific leaders of the future are receiving a message of indifference.
Carey urged Congress to support a 6.7 percent increase
for the NIH in each of the next three fiscal years. These increases would
get the NIH “back on track” by restoring losses due to inflation in recent
years. She also stressed the importance of NIH-funded training programs for
the next generation of scientists and said NIH funds are essential to
improving science education at all levels. The NIH also funds programs that
provide important opportunities for minority
students to become more deeply involved in scientific research.
* * *
Members of the media who want to interview Dr. Carey or
obtain the complete text of her testimony, should contact Christine Guilfoy
at The American Physiological Society, (301) 634-7253 or
cguilfoy@the-aps.org.
***
Physiology
is the study of how molecules, cells, tissues and organs function to create
health or disease. The American Physiological Society has been an integral
part of this scientific discovery process since it was established in 1887.
The Society has 10,500 members and publishes 11 peer-reviewed
journals containing almost 4,000 articles annually.
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