The National Eczema Association is a member of Research!America. Research!America is the nation's largest not-for-profit public education and advocacy alliance. Since 1989, they have been committed to making research to improve health a higher national priority. Together, with more than 500 member organizations, representing a vast array of medical, health and scientific fields, they aim to achieve four important goals:

• Achieve funding for medical and health research from the public and private sectors at a level warranted by scientific opportunity and supported by public opinion.
• Better inform the public of the benefits of medical and health research and the institutions that perform research.
• Motivate the public to actively support medical and health research and the complementary sciences that make advances possible.
• Promote and empower a more active public and political life by individual members of the research community on behalf of medical and health research, public health, and science overall.

The National Eczema Association will post all relevant news and information regarding Research!America initiatives here to facilitate education and advocacy on research issues important to eczema patients. You may wish to visit their website at: researchamerica.org.

Postdate: January 5, 2010

NIH Director Francis S. Collins, MD, PhD, authored a Policy Forum article in the current issue of Science (1/1/10), "Opportunities for Research and NIH."

He details the five areas of opportunity he sees as holding particular promise for NIH: high through-put technologies, translational medicine, benefiting health care reform, focusing more on global health, and reinvigorating and empowering the biomedical research community.

Of the role for research in reinventing health care, he writes that "NIH can make substantial contributions" through comparative effectiveness research, prevention and personalized medicine, health disparities research, pharmacogenomics, and health research economics.

In closing, he writes, "Recruiting, retaining, and empowering scientists from many disciplines to work together, supported by a stable trajectory for biomedical research support, are critical to realize the unprecedented opportunities that lie in front of us. It is time to be bold."

The article is available online (subscription required).

Postdate: February 19, 2009

Billions for Research in Recovery Package
Thank Congress and the President

Today, President Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act into law. NIH, AHRQ, NSF and a new prevention and wellness fund will see substantial funding increases thanks to strong support from advocates like you and congressional champions. Senator Arlen Specter, who led the effort to include $10 billion for NIH, acknowledges the critical role that thousands of advocates for research played to help secure this funding. Take the time now to thank your Representative and Senators and President Obama for approving increases for NIH, AHRQ, NSF and prevention and wellness in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The funding in the recovery package is as follows:

• NIH - $10 billion, including $7.4 billion for distribution to the institutes and centers, $1.3 billion for extramural construction and equipment, $800 million for the Office of the Director for trans-NIH initiatives, and $500 million for improvements to the NIH campus.
• AHRQ - $1.1 billion for comparative effectiveness research.
• NSF - $3 billion, including $2.5 billion for research, $400 million for construction and equipment, and $100 million for education and human resources.
• Prevention and wellness fund - $1 billion, of which some portion will be allocated to CDC.

The tremendous surge of support from health and research advocates made these increases possible. Let's keep the momentum going as we anticipate action on FY 2009 and 2010 appropriations!