On May 17, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies (LHHS) held an oversight hearing to discuss the advances in biomedical research by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). NIH Director Francis Collins was accompanied by Institute directors Anthony Fauci (Allergy and Infectious Diseases), Gary Gibbons (Heart, Lung, and Blood), Joshua Gordon (Mental Health), Doug Lowy (Cancer), and Nora Volkow (Drug Abuse).
Welcoming the agency before the Subcommittee, Chairman Tom Cole (R-OK) noted that “investment in NIH has been the key driver in making the United States the world leader of biomedical research and has led to vast improvements in life expectancy and quality of life.” Rep. Cole expressed pride in increasing NIH’s funding by $2 billion both in FY 2017 and FY 2016. He also expressed disappointment with the Administration’s proposed cuts to NIH’s budget in FY 2018. Specifically, Rep. Cole noted he fears that the proposed cuts would “stall the progress” that Congress’ recent “investments were intended to achieve and potentially discourage promising scientists from entering or remaining in biomedical research.”
Questions from Subcommittee members covered a wide range of topics, including indirect costs, early stage investigators, the Institutional Development Award, minority health and health disparities, the opioid epidemic, the Grant Support Index (GSI), the ECHO study, international competition, public health preparedness, e-cigarettes, and the impact of the hiring freeze and a “good government shut down.” (more…)