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Update on NIH funding

As you all know, every year we advocate for NIH funding. The reality is we wouldn't have HPS or CHS research if we hadn't been taken in by the NIH. We just don't have millions of dollars to pay for research at other institutions. NIH plays a very special role in our country in this respect.
This is just an update, for those who are interested, in the current NIH funding effort. It comes from the American Thoracic Society.

From ATS:
The FY2011 omnibus appropriations bill being prepared by Senate Appropriations Committee chairman Sen. Inouye (D-HI), includes a $750 million, or 2.4% funding increase for the NIH in 2011. The omnibus bill comprises all 12 spending bills that have been passed by the Senate Appropriations Committee, including the Labor-Health and Human Services bill which funds NIH. It is not yet clear, however, if Sen. Inouye has the necessary bipartisan support to get the bill passed in the Senate. If the omnibus does not gain passage by the end of next week when the Congress will adjourn for the end of the year, a long term continuing resolution (CR) freezing government program funding at FY2010 levels, which the House has already passed this week, could be enacted. There is also the possibility that a short-term CR could be passed, delaying final 2011 spending until the new Congress, when incoming Republican leaders have vowed to implement spending cuts. The ATS urges all members to contact their two senators to urge their support for passage of the FY2011 omnibus appropriations bill. Click here to send an e-mail to your senators. http://capwiz.com/thoracic/home/

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