POLICY UPDATE

NIH Funding Update
Conferees from the House and Senate continue their attempts to reconcile differences in their FY2005 budget resolutions that include large disparities in NIH funding increases. The Senate version contains a 7.2% increase in NIH funding while the House version is consistent with the administration’s request for a 2.5% increase. Meanwhile, there were some warning signs in May that FY 2006 may be an even more challenging year for NIH funding. Both the Washington Post and the New York Times ran stories at the end of May about possible cuts in domestic spending that would impact a range of federal agencies including NIH. The basis for these stories was a May 19 memo from the White House Office of Management and Budget warning federal departments to prepare for cuts based on administration formulas. While the White House is still months away from making any decisions about the 2006 budget, the memo indicated that NIH funding could be cut 2.1 percent in 2006, to $28 billion.

FRIENDS NEWS and ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Capitol Hill Town Hall
Our second town hall of 2004 is set for July 13th from 8:30am to 10:30am in the Caucus Room of the Russell Senate Office Building (SR-325). This event will be the first in a series of interactive symposia to be held across the country tentatively titled “Defeating Cancer through Prevention and Early Detection.” The goal is to educate decision makers, the media, and the public about specific changes in institutional processes and policies that would safely promote more efficient translation of scientific discovery from the bench to the bedside in areas such as chemoprevention and biomarker.

Panelists for the July 13th event include Ann Barker, Ph.D. (Deputy Director, NCI), Clifton Leaf (Executive Editor, Fortune Magazine), Rick Pazdur, M.D. (Director, FDA’s Oncology Drug Products Division), Homer Pearce, Ph.D. (Cancer Research Fellow, Eli Lilly and Company), Michael B. Sporn, M.D. (Professor of Pharmacology, Dartmouth Medical School). Susan Dentzer (Health Correspondent, NewsHour with Jim Lehrer) will moderate the panel and Carolyn Aldige (President, Cancer Research and Prevention Foundation) will provide an introductory speech.

There will be ample opportunities for audience interaction including an exclusive Q&A session with Clifton Leaf, author of the recent cover article in Fortune Magazine entitled “Why We’re Losing the War on Cancer?” immediately following the event.

Friends Chair wins Advocacy Award
Friends’ chairperson Ellen Sigal, Ph.D. received an award for “Outstanding Contributions in Advocacy & Cancer Research” at a May 7th luncheon hosted by The International Spirit of Life Foundation (ISOLF). ISOLF’s mission is to ignite the collaboration of prominent researchers, advocates and visionaries from across the world working to advance the prevention, treatment and management of cancer.