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It's that time of year again - let Congress know how much the NIH means to you

It's that time of year again. Budget battles for the next year are underway, and those of us who believe in the mission of the NIH and who benefit from its work need to speak up and let Congress know this is a good way to spend precious government resources.

The thing is a lot of the research that happens at NIH couldn't happen anywhere else. It would be too expensive, and too risky, for a traditional setting.

The NIH has lead the way in HPS research and we must continue to speak up and be heard to keep that moving. They are also investigators for Chediak-Higashi Syndrome, another closely related syndrome to HPS. And, now, they also have other albinism protocols underway.

Below is a tidbit from the American Thoracic Society's e-newsletter I'm posting just as a general update. I'll keep my eye on how the debate is going and post further updates here.


ATS Joins Letter in Support of Increased NIH Funding
This week, the ATS joined an ad-hoc Group for Medical Research letter to the United States House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies in support of increased funding for the NIH. The letter requests $35 billion for the NIH in FY 2011. The letter states, "By supporting $35 billion for biomedical research and the NIH, you can help ensure the nation does not lose the health and economic benefits of this extraordinary investment (the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act) and take the next crucial step by beginning a course of sustained NIH funding in the FY 2011 budget and beyond."

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