Georgetown Lombardi Director Attends Special Briefing on Capitol Hill
Posted in Lombardi Stories | Tagged cancer research, research advocacy
(December 12, 2014) — On Wednesday, December 10 the One Voice Against Cancer (OVAC) Coalition and the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) held a special briefing on Capitol Hill to present the National Cancer Institute (NCI)’s FY 2016 Bypass Budget to congressional staff. The bypass budget, which was released on December 9, outlines the cancer research priorities of the NCI and identifies areas of potential investment. The budget proposal arrives in the wake of a 25 percent reduction in the NCI’s ability to support cancer research and discovery.
Director of Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer director Louis M. Weiner, MD (pictured at right) presented his perspective on the importance of funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and NCI and what the budget would mean for cancer centers and their patients.
“As director of a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center, I experience increasing concern as our enterprise is forced to shrink,” said Weiner. “The persistent and growing funding gap has forced us…to put aside scientists and work that should be supported but cannot—all the while knowing that the wrong decisions could deprive us of advances that cloud the prospects for future generations.”
Other speakers included Senator Johnny Isakson, (R-Ga), NCI Director Harold Varmus, MD, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society Otis Brawley, MD, and St. Baldrick’s Childhood Cancer Foundation director of Government Relations and Advocacy Danielle Leach.
Additional links:
- NCI Annual Plan and Budget Proposal for Fiscal Year 2016
- AACR press release on the FY 2016 NCI Bypass Budget
By Cherisse Cobrand
Georgetown Lombardi Communications