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MAY 2007
NIH and FDA Appropriations Moving in House and Senate With the House and Senate each approving budget resolutions for fiscal year (FY) 2008, the appropriations process for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Food and Drug Administration, and other federal discretionary programs is beginning to move forward this year. The stated goal of Representative David R. Obey (D-WI) and Senator Robert C. Byrd (D-WV)—the respective chairs of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees—is to get all 12 FY 2008 spending bills approved by October 1, the beginning of the new fiscal year. Before Chairmen Obey and Byrd can draft the FY 2008 appropriations bills, they need to know... [click for full article]
On May 9, Friends of Cancer Research Chair Dr. Ellen Sigal offered congressional testimony at the House Energy & Commerce Health Subcommittee Hearing on drug safety held in the Rayburn House Office Building.
The House of Representatives held this hearing
as they begin to consider similar legislation that recently passed through
the Senate sponsored by Senator Kennedy. Titled,
"Assessing the Safety of our Nation's Drug Supply," the hearing included two
panels of witnesses. The first panel showcased testimony from Steven K.
Galson, M.D., M.P.H., Director of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER); and Marcia Crosse, Ph.D.,
Director of Health Care Issues for the U.S. Government Accountability
Office. The second panel, on which Dr. Sigal served, included
representatives from PhRMA, Elizabeth Glaser
Pediatric AIDS Foundation, and the University of Pennsylvania School of
Medicine.
Additionally, Dr. Sigal discussed the recent drug safety
report from an expert committee spearheaded by Friends and chaired by Dr.
Robert Young, past President of Fox Chase Cancer Center. During her
testimony, Dr. Sigal highlighted the major points of the report, of which
over 24 organizations in the healthcare community have signed onto with
support. à For Dr. Sigal's complete testimony, please visit: www.focr.org/may9testimony.htm
“A Century of Progress in Cancer Research” Educational Hill Day
Pictured above: AACI Executive Director Barbara Duffy Stewart; AACR Past-President Dr. Geoff Wahl; AACR CEO Dr. Margaret Foti; Friends President Marlene Malek; Friends Chair Dr. Ellen Sigal; and AACI President Dr. Shelton Earp. Friends of Cancer Research, in conjunction with the Association of American Cancer Institutes and the American Association for Cancer Research, brought together cancer researchers, oncologists, and cancer center directors for its annual Capitol Hill Day in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday, May 9. With over 70 participants representing 50 institutions and 23 states, the AACR-AACI-FOCR educational “Hill Day” held 140 successful meetings with members of Congress and their staff to discuss the importance of making cancer research a national priority. Friends Chair and Founder Dr. Ellen Sigal, explained the importance of the hill day: “Each cancer organization participating in these collective hill days has a unique yet critical perspective that helps to complete the story of the cancer community. This cooperation and collaboration is yielding real dividends, as seen in recent news such as the American Cancer Society report that cancer deaths have decreased for a second year in a row. It is crucial that we all keep working together.” The day on Capitol Hill commenced with comments by Geoffrey Wahl, Ph.D., past president of AACR, and H. Shelton Earp, M.D., President of AACI. Sudip Parikh, Ph.D. (pictured below), who is a member of Senator Specter’s (R-PA) staff and Science Adviser for the Senate Committee on Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, provided the keynote speech.
If you would like to take action on this topic, please visit Research!America’s Advocacy website, where you can enter your zip code and be instantly connected to your members of Congress. Research!America’s website will give you an opportunity to view their current voting records as well as see current relevant legislation being considered. On their site, you will also have the ability to send your member of Congress an electronic message regarding current issues, including the call across the cancer and research community to increase federal funding.
Town Hall at the University of Michigan featured Representative John Dingell, heads of NCI and FDA
The webcast is still available for viewing online at: www.mcancer.org/webcast UMCCC's Director, Dr. Max Wicha, was joined by Michigan's longest serving member of Congress, Representative John Dingell, the Director of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Dr. John Niederhuber, and the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration and former NCI Director Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach. Additionally, U-M researchers and clinicians Stephen Gruber, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor of Human Genetics and Internal Medicine, U-M Medical School and Associate Professor of Epidemiology, U-M School of Public Health; and Dean Brenner, M.D., Professor of Internal Medicine and Pharmacology, U-M Medical School provided scientific and clinical insight; Joseph D. Purvis, M.D., Executive Director, Clinical Research, Oncology for AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals provided an industry perspective; and Ruth Freedman, MPH provided a patient perspective to round-out the diverse panel.
Panelists emphasized the promise and importance of personalized medicine in approaching preventing, diagnosing, and treating cancer in the future. Dr. Brenner commented, “We know early detection works, yet, for example with colonoscopies, we are seeing only a compliance rate of only one third.” Dr. Brenner went on to describe the personalized process biomarkers could offer in a solution to this problem: “The whole concept of biomarkers is to exploit the incredible new ideas about proteomic proteins and genes that you’ve been hearing about, and systematize it and figure out which ones we can test in each individual. A very quick, inexpensive, rapid, accurate way to say to you, “Well, maybe you ought to get a colonoscopy.” Biomarkers and other personalized methods will also offer huge advances in individualized treatments, once the cancer has already been diagnosed. Dr. Niederhuber said, “We are looking into pharmacogenomics – gene expression patterns and pathways, and asking, will agents be effectively metabolized by patients? However, when it comes to getting these treatments tested and approved through the Food and Drug Administration, Congressman Dingell reminded the audience that “FDA is only as good as Congress will fund. We have to see to it that FDA has the money, the people, and the resources it needs to get the work done it needs to do.” He cautioned this would be especially difficult in light of funding limitations and a short timeline, but emphasized that, “It is going to be up to you to see to it that Congress understands. Let them know you are watching and that you are informed.” The scientists and researchers on the panel also stressed the importance of funding basic science, developing the biomedical industry, and ensuring that the future generations of researchers are supported. Dr. von Eschenbach underlined the value of bringing together the entire community to address these issues: “The hope for the future is in collaboration, cooperation, and integration. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” As Dr. Wicha concluded during the town hall closing remarks, “I think you’ve heard from all the speakers today, actually, a recurring theme. In a way it’s what guides our research now as we go forward, and that is, we’re moving from a one-size-fits-all approach to personalized medicine and personalized oncology.” As Friends President Marlene Malek stated earlier in the day, “Federally supported cancer research is an investment in our nation's health and leads to fewer people dying from this disease. This message needs to be delivered to our elected officials frequently to get the point across with so many competing priorities facing our nation." Through this event, key stakeholders of the cancer community, including researchers, government officials, industry, and the public were provided a forum to discuss and collaborate on ways to forge ahead with opportunities in cancer research and better define the message needed to take to Congress. à Watch the event online! www.mcancer.org/webcast
AACR Hosts Annual Meeting, Celebrates Centennial Anniversary, Friends Chair Receives Centennial Award On April 14-18 The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) hosted its Annual Meeting in Los Angeles, CA, which inaugurated AACR’s centennial celebration as the world’s oldest and largest scientific organization. Over 17,000 participants gathered to discuss ground-breaking research between basic and clinical researchers in order to speed the translation of new discoveries for the benefit of cancer patients. As a part of the opening centennial celebrations, Friends Chair and Founder Dr. Ellen Sigal was recognized with an AACR Centennial Award for her extraordinary contributions to the advancement of cancer research. The Centennial Award was also given to several prominent and distinguished members of the cancer community: Dr. Ann Barker of NCI, Nancy Davenport-Ennis of NPAF, and Laurie Fenton of Lung Cancer Alliance, among many others. In addition, Dr. Sigal presented at the AACR Science Policy and Legislative Affairs Symposia during the Annual Meeting. Her presentation entitled, “Legislative Impact on Drug Safety, Access and Innovation,” discussed current proposals being considered in Congress to strengthen FDA. à For more information, please visit AACR’s website at: www.accr.org
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On
April 11, Friends of Cancer Research (Friends) and the University of
Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center (UMCCC) hosted an educational town hall
at U-M on the latest in prevention and early detection of cancer. With a
local audience of close to 150 and a “virtual” audience near 200 watching
the event online, the event reached a broad group of scientists,
researchers, media, and the general public. Local Michigan television
station, WJBK-TV (Channel 2), broadcasted live from the town hall and also
featured post-event coverage later in the day, as well. 
The
drug safety white paper, "Drug Safety & Drug Efficacy, Two Sides of the Same
Coin," recently received attention as an editorial in the May 1st edition of
the prestigious AACR Clinical Cancer Research (CCR) Journal. The
report, which was released in its entirety earlier this year,