Friends of Cancer Research Newsletter

White House Releases FY 2007 Budget—Proposal Freezes NIH Funding at FY 2006 Level

On Monday, February 6, the Bush Administration announced its fiscal year (FY) 2007 budget proposal. Overall, the $2.77 trillion spending plan calls for increased spending on military and homeland security programs, while recommending cuts in many domestic discretionary programs in health care, education, and agriculture. The President’s proposal for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) calls for $28.59 billion, the same funding level as FY 2006. With NIH projecting medical inflation to increase by 3.5 percent for FY 2007, the President’s budget proposal amounts to a real cut in biomedical research funding at NIH.

Within the President’s Budget proposal for NIH, NCI is slated to receive $4.75 billion -- a $40 million cut over the Institute’s FY 2006 funding level. Every entity within NIH receives a cut or level funding from FY 2006 under the President’s plan except for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (which receives a $12 million increase) and the NIH Director’s Office (which receives a $140 million increase). More detailed information on the President’s FY 2007 NIH Budget proposal is available online at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2007/budget.html

The release of the President’s Budget is just the first step in the federal budget process. In the coming months, the House and the Senate will each compile their own budget proposals that will include spending for priorities that differ with the Bush Administration’s plan for FY 2007. FOCR will keep you informed as the budget debate unfolds over the coming months

FOCR anticipates an uphill battle in advocating for FY 2007 NIH funding. Although NIH still has a number of champions in the House and Senate, it will be difficult to find other legislators willing to become champions for NIH when support for their other funding priorities are also in jeopardy. Some Congressional offices may look at NIH’s recent funding history and see that the agency’s budget doubled between FYs 1998-2003, and without fully understanding the NIH research enterprise, decide that they can focus their attention on other appropriations issues. To counter these doubts on Capitol Hill, medical research advocates will explain why cuts to NIH funding threaten the momentum in medical research created by the NIH doubling as well as how we live in a time of unparalleled scientific opportunity in areas such as genomics, proteomics, and biomarkers. Advocates will emphasize that these areas need to be fully explored through increased funding for NIH, not hindered as a result of cuts in funding.

The community has already begun to speak up about the Bush Administration’s proposed FY 2007 budget. The Washington Post on Monday, February 6, published an op-ed entitled “Cancer Research in Danger” by Martin D. Abeloff, MD (Director of the Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins and a member of the FOCR Board of Directors) and Edward D. Miller, MD (Dean of the Medical Faculty and Chief Executive Officer of Johns Hopkins Medicine) that makes several interesting points about cancer research funding. It concludes:

“We have reached a pivotal moment in medical history. None of us wants to cut back on the exciting studies at the Kimmel Cancer Center and other research programs. Reducing and eventually eliminating the death and suffering from cancer in all its forms would be a stunning achievement. It is a goal our leaders should embrace with enthusiasm rather than slowing financial backing for this nation's medical research.”

The full op-ed is available online at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/05/AR2006020501058.html (free registration at the Washington Post website may be required).

FDA’s Critical Path Initiative May Receive Funding

Nearly two years ago, the FDA released its “Critical Path” report that described “the urgent need to modernize the medical product development process -- the Critical Path -- to make product development more predictable and less costly.” One of the plan’s central objectives is to update the tools currently used to assess the safety and efficacy of new medical products. The need for this type of initiative continues to grow as the number of innovative drugs coming on to the market has slid in recent years. However, implementation of the Critical Path Initiative has been challenging due in part to a lack of funding.

According to a February 6^th Wall Street Journal article entitled “Bush Budget Mary Benefit Drug Pipeline” by Anna Wilde Mathews and Scott Hensley, some monies finally may be allocated toward The Critical Path Initiative in 2007. One of the initiative's components calls for the development of a list of biomarkers to “create guidelines for how drug companies can prove that their medicines’ effects on biomarkers represent significant treatment results.” The article also points out that while some industry and patient groups are requesting $10 million for the initiative, the actual amount targeted toward the program is expected to be less.

FOCR Updates

Friends of Cancer Research is pleased to announce the addition of three new staff members. Each will play an important role as we expand our efforts to raise awareness and provide public education on the importance of cancer research.

Jeff Coughlin, MPP, joins Friends as Director of Government Affairs. Jeff has been involved with policy issues related to healthcare for more than a decade. He was previously the Government Affairs Manger at the American Society of Hematology (ASH), an organization of over 14,000 scientists and clinicians committed to the study and treatment of blood and blood-related diseases. His email is jcoughlin@focr.org.

Heather Chaney is our new Director of Operations and Programs. She has nearly a decade of combined experience in healthcare, government affairs, and operations. Heather was previously the Federal Government Relations Manager for the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO), the world’s largest biotechnology organization. Her email is hchaney@focr.org.

Jeff Allen, Ph.D., joins Friends as Science Policy Associate. He has a strong scientific understanding of cancer as a molecular disease and will play a pivotal role in our efforts to facilitate discussion and collaboration between the scientific and advocacy communities. Jeff received his doctorate from Georgetown University in Cell Biology and recently finished a post-doctoral fellowship at the National Institutes of Health. His email is jallen@focr.org.

As Americans come together to mourn the loss of Coretta Scott King and celebrate the great achievements of the civil rights movement during Black History Month, the latest statistics sadly still show an inequality among African Americans being diagnosed and ultimately dying of cancer. This month’s spotlight features Dr. Lucile Adams-Campbell, who is Director of Howard University Cancer Center and a FOCR Board Member. She is also the first African-American female in the U.S. to receive a Ph.D. in epidemiology, as well as the only African-American female serving as director of an U.S. cancer center. [Read this month's In The Spotlight]

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." - Margaret Mead

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