|
FASEB'S GRASSROOTS
EFFORTS
Local Congressional Meetings and Local
Initiatives
During the August Congressional recess, FASEB
kicked-off a pilot project aimed at encouraging
FASEB society member scientists, clinicians, and
scholars to become more involved in advocating
for biomedical research on a much more targeted
and local level.
Jon Retzlaff, FASEB’s Director of Legislative
Relations, arranged meetings with senior staff
in the home offices of three Minnesota
Congressional members, including Senator Norm
Coleman (R-MN) and Representatives Gil Gutknecht
(R-MN) and Mark Kennedy (R-MN). FASEB also
partnered with the American Heart Association
(AHA) on these visits. Joining him for the
meeting with Representative Gutknecht’s staff
(who represents the district which includes the
Mayo Clinic) were three researchers from the
Mayo Clinic and an AHA representative: Tom
Spelsberg, Ph.D., member of ASBMR, ENDO, and
ASBMB; Sundeep Khosla, M.D., member of ASBMR,
ASCI, and ENDO; Virginia Miller, Ph.D., member
of APS; and Bradley Peterson, AHA, Senior
Advocacy Director, Greater Midwest Affiliate.
Mr. Peterson also attended the meetings with
staff for Senator Coleman and Representative
Kennedy, who is running for the open Senate seat
in Minnesota.
The State of Minnesota was initially chosen
because it ranks very high in its ability to
compete for NIH funds. In fact, if you add the
dollars that the University of Minnesota
receives from NIH ($224 million) and the amount
of funding provided to the Mayo Clinic in
Rochester, MN ($166 million), Minnesota would
rank sixth overall in total NIH funding.
In addition, FASEB’s President is Leo Furcht,
M.D., who currently is at the University of
Minnesota and head of the Department of
Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, and the
President of the American Heart Association is
Raymond Gibbons, M.D., who serves as a Professor
of Medicine (specializing in cardiovascular
diseases) at the Mayo Clinical College of
Medicine in Rochester, MN. This presents a
unique opportunity for FASEB to partner with the
AHA to convince members of the Minnesota
Congressional delegation that they should become
champions for NIH research.
The specific purpose for the district meetings
was to introduce the staffers to FASEB and
demonstrate that we represent local researchers
living and working in their districts, explain
the exciting health advances and scientific
opportunities that have resulted from the growth
in NIH’s budget, and discuss the possibility of
organizing a public forum in Minnesota on
advances in medical research. The forum would be
an opportunity for the general public and health
professionals to meet with scientists,
clinicians and practitioners to learn about the
progress being made on a range of research
initiatives. This idea is being modeled after
events that took place in 2002 and 2003 when NIH
Institute and Center Directors traveled to
districts in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Ohio, to
participate in community health forums to
discuss NIH activities and steps people can take
to improve their health. Thus far, feedback from
Congressional staff and the members for which
they work has been positive.
Tools for FASEB Scientists to Use on a
Local Level
FASEB has unveiled a customizable slide
presentation that scientists, department heads
and deans can use locally to demonstrate NIH’s
impact on human health. The slides provide
scientists with a tool to help them tell the
stories behind medical breakthroughs: how basic
research is translated; how NIH funds research
in their own community; and how our quality of
life has improved thanks to NIH-sponsored
discoveries. They also highlight the remarkable
advances in heart disease, cancer, infectious
illnesses, and trace them back to NIH funded
research. FASEB has customized the slides for
10 states thus far—CA, IL, IA, MA, MN, NY,
NC, OH, PA, TX.
TOP OF PAGE
BILLS, BILLS, BILLS
H.R. 4239, The Animal Enterprise Terrorism
Act
On September 13, 2006, FASEB contacted the House
Judiciary Committee in support of the Animal
Enterprise Terrorism Act, which would provide
the Department of Justice the authority to
apprehend, prosecute, and convict individuals
committing animal enterprise terror. FASEB urged
the committee to move the bill towards passage
by the full House, and plans to support the
bipartisan Senate version, S.3880, as well. A
press release outlining FASEB’s letter can be
found
here.
TOP OF PAGE
CONGRESSIONAL SCHEDULE
The House and Senate are in session until
September 29, 2006.
TOP OF PAGE
PAGE 1 |
PAGE 2
GO BACK TO SEPT 15,
WASHINGTON UPDATE |
