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MARCH 2005
>Testimony on The Hill
3299 K Street, NW,
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On March 1st, 2005, Friends of Cancer Research and the National Patient Advocate Foundation (NPAF) partnered to present testimony on patient safety issues and the FDA before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee. Nancy Davenport-Ennis, CEO of the NPAF, participated in a 5-member witness panel and provided oral remarks that highlighted the key elements of the full statement submitted for the record available at http://help.senate.gov/testimony/t201_tes.html. The purpose of the joint testimony was to provide insights into the complex nature of cancer, and explain why timely access to new technologies for the prevention, detection, and treatment of cancer is so essential. Although it was generally supportive of efforts to strengthen the FDA's role in evaluating and monitoring safety concerns, our testimony urged caution because some strategies might unintentionally slow down the flow of better tools for fighting cancer, or worse, discourage their creation altogether. "We want safer and more effective drugs moved through the system as efficiently as possible,” the testimony states, “so they can be used as soon as possible by those who need them most, such as cancer patients and/or those at high risk for cancer. We would prefer strategies and solutions designed to improve the FDA’s capacity in the areas of safety, efficacy, and efficiency simultaneously." As a foundation for developing an even more effective FDA, our testimony outlined five key "Pillars of Safety" critical to reforms:
1. Safety and
Efficacy must continue to be the foundational elements of the FDA regulatory
process. Safety cannot exist in a vacuum apart from efficacy.
For the full
testimony, please visit the U.S. Senate's Website at: White House Releases FY 2006 Budget; Proposed Funding for NIH Well below Inflation The White House officially released its FY 2006 Budget in early February, which contains the President’s recommended funding levels for administrative departments and agencies. This year’s funding request for the National Institutes of Health is about $28.8 billion, which translates into a percentage increase of less than 1%. Because this amount is well below the annual rate of inflation (typically 3 to 5%), many in the health and research communities view this as a cut in funding. The amount proposed for the National
Cancer Institute as part of the overall NIH budget is just over $4.8 billion
– virtually unchanged for this year’s funding levels. In a February 8th
Wall Street Journal article by Bernard Wysocki, Jr. entitled “R&D Will Get
More Money – Barely,” Friends’ Chair Dr. Ellen Sigal shared her concern that
“flat funding would slow work in genomics, nanotechnologies and other
research fields in the fight against cancer.” Also in the article, Dr.
William Dalton, CEO of the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center shares his concern
that the flattening of the budget will mean that younger researchers are
less likely to get their proposals approved: "The more established
investigators will continue to be successful. The young people coming into
the field are the ones who suffer from tight budgets.” AACI and FOCR Partner to Bring Cancer Centers to The Hill on April 5th Friends of Cancer Research together with the Association of American Cancer Institutes are coordinating a day on Capitol Hill for the nation's cancer centers. Sixteen states and the district will be represented by the more than 20 cancer center directors planning to attend. The purpose the day's events is to raise congressional awareness of the critical and unique role the nation’s numerous cancer centers play in the fight against cancer. For more information please call Friends of Cancer Research at (202) 944-6655.
FOCR Co-Hosts Symposium on Prevention and Early Detection With an audience of roughly 200 guests in Tampa, FOCR’s latest symposium, co-hosed by the H. Lee. Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, delivered an engaging discussion on the enormous opportunities in cutting edge fields, such as biomarkers and nanotechnology, for the development of powerful new tools for detecting cancer sooner or preventing it altogether. The town hall gathered key stakeholders and experts together to discuss barriers and opportunities to cancer research, including US Congressman Michael Bilirakis of Florida's 9th Congressional District. who participated in the 90 minute panel discussion and was honored with a well deserved "Cancer Leadership Award" from Friends' Chair, Ellen Sigal, and President, Marlene Malek.
Moderated by Susan Dentzer, Head of the Health Policy Unit of the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer on PBS, the panel included special guest, Congressman Michael Bilirakis (R-FL, 9th) and Clifton Leaf, Executive Editor of Fortune Magazine. Other panelists included Dr. Anna Barker, Deputy Director, National Cancer Institute; Dr. Gerard T. Kennealey, VP, Medical Oncology, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals; Dr. Rick Pazdur, Director, Oncology Drug Products Division, Food and Drug Administration; and Dr. Thomas A. Sellers, Associate Center Director for Cancer Prevention and Control, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute. The discussion touched on a wide range of topics including the important role of continued biomarker discovery, the process of carcinogenesis, federal budgetary constraints, and new modalities for cooperative research.
Media coverage of the event was strong, including a live appearance by Friends’ Executive Director, Alan Balch, on Tampa CBS 10. An Op-Ed addressing the fact that cancer has now become the nation's number one killer of those under 85, co-written by Dr. Sigal and Moffitt CEO Dr. William Dalton also appeared in Tampa’s major daily newspaper, the Tampa Tribune. Additionally, the Wall Street Journal featured quotes from both Dr. Sigal and Dr. Dalton regarding NIH Funding, also a major topic of the Tampa Town Hall. For a more detailed summary, please see Breaking Down Barriers: A summary of the Moffitt Town Hall EIF Gala for Biomarker Discovery Project As a member of the Oversight Committee for the Women's Cancer Research Fund's (WCRF) Biomarker Discovery Project, Friends Chair Ellen Sigal attended the Saks Fifth Avenue's Unforgettable Evening at the Regent Beverly Wilshire on March 1st.
The event, which honored Lance Armstrong, was also attended by such notables as Sheryl Crow, Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, Kate Capshaw, Natalie Cole and Jay Leno. The event was originally to be hosted by comic Ellen DeGeneres, who was unfortunately sidelined due to her own bout with cancer, and fellow comedian Robin Williams stood in to bring the crowd an entertaining and meaningful "Unforgettable Evening." For more information on both the Biomarker Discovery Projects and the organizations involved with it, please visit: http://www.eifoundation.org/national/wcrf/about/biomarker_discovery.html
Above: Larry Platt, Lee Hartwell, Theresa Hartwell, Rick Klausner, Tom Hanks, Ellen Sigal, Eric Lander, and Gerry Sigal. Leaving her mark: President and CEO of Paramount Pictures and FOCR Executive Committee Member Sherry Lansing gets a "Hollywood Star"
Friends of Cancer Research Hosts Annual Board Meeting; Elects Executive Director On February 18th, Friends of Cancer Research held its annual board meeting. The attendance was strong and the board took action in several areas, including approval for a 2005 agenda and a unanimous vote to promote Alan Balch, Ph.D., to Executive Director. Dr. Balch has been with Friends since November of 2003, serving as Director of Programs and Policies. Dr. Balch holds a B.A. in Biology, a Master’s in Environmental Science, and received his Ph.D. in Environmental Policy from the University of California Santa Cruz in December of 2003. Dr. Balch said he was inspired to become involved in cancer policy following the cancer-related deaths of two close family members within a very short time frame in early Fall of 2003: his fourteen year-old niece and his grandmother, to whom he served as a caregiver for during the last several weeks of her battle against colon cancer.
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