OSTP Director Dr. John Holdren last week issued a memo outlining the science and technology priorities for the Administration’s last budget cycle. The OSTP, in partnership with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), advisees the President on the Federal Research and Development (R&D) budget and shaping R&D priorities across those Federal agencies that have significant portfolios in s…

  In a 344-77 vote July 10th, the House of Representatives passed H.R.6, the 21st Century Cures Act, a bill that ASPET has supported since its introduction last year. The legislation will provide NIH an additional $9.3 billion in mandatory funding over the next five years and establish a Cures Innovation Fund to support breakthroughs in biomedical research, as well as $550 million in added fundi…

  House Appropriations Advances First Labor-HHS Funding Bill in Six Years In a 30-21 vote following a nearly seven hour markup, appropriators advanced a $153 billion bill last Wednesday funding the departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Education and Labor for the next fiscal year. This marks the first time in six years the full committee has advanced a funding measure for these depa…

  The Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) has submitted a letter to the Senate Committee on Health, Educations, Labor and Pensions (HELP) to provide input and recommendations to enhance the role of NIH as they continue to work on their bipartisan innovation initiative. The letter makes the following recommendations: Stabilize the NIH budget thr…

  The National Institutes of Health recently announced the appointment of eight individuals to the NIH Council of Councils. The CoC was established to advise the NIH Director on policies and activities of the Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives (DPCPSI), including making recommendations on areas of emerging scientific opportunities, public health challenges, or ar…

   The House Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously approved H.R.6, the 21st Century Cures Act, on May 21. The revised legislation incorporated many of the previously submitted comments and suggestions from the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) and others in the research community, including ASPET. Significant changes from the first to the fifth drafts…

  National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Francis S. Collins recently approved a federal report that lays out the long-term scientific vision for the NIH’s National Library of Medicine (NLM), the world’s largest biomedical library. This vision, presented today last week at the 110th meeting of the Advisory Committee to the Director (ACD), calls for NIH to position the NLM as a unifying force in…

  The US National Institutes of Health has announced the mid-September departure of Sally Rockey, Deputy Director for Extramural Research, who will be leading a recently created agricultural research foundation. In a statement, NIH Director Francis Collins notes Rockey’s 19 years with the US Department of Agriculture before joining NIH and asserts that this will be an ideal fit, adding that he wil…

  The Senate Committee on Appropriations last week approved the FY2016 Commerce, Justice and Science (CJS) Appropriations Bill with a bipartisan 27-3 vote. A far-reaching $51 billion measure now available for consideration by the Senate, the bill holds funding for the National Science Foundation at FY 2015 enacted levels, with a total appropriation of $7.344 billion, $430,000 below the FY 2…