March 2022
Tell Congress to Pass Appropriations For FY2022 And Reject Future CRs
Join your fellow NeuroAdvocates in urging Congress to reject the use of continuing resolutions by passing FY2022 appropriations packages before the end of current funding. Send your Representative and Senators a message via SfN’s Advocacy Action Center and personalize it by including why predictable funding for biomedical research is important to you.
Past ECPA Highlights Advocacy Journey
2021 Early Career Policy Ambassador (ECPA), Christin Godale, recently gave an interview that was published in Nature Careers detailing her neuroscience journey and why advocating for biomedical research funding is so important to her. As someone who has lived with epilepsy since the age of two, Christin credits neuroscience with saving her life and giving her a vocation. She explains the different advocacy opportunities she’s had through SfN and how living with epilepsy has shaped her approach to neuroscience advocacy, both as a researcher and a patient advocate.
Congress Releases FY2022 Omnibus Appropriations Bill
House and Senate appropriation leaders have released the text of the FY2022 omnibus appropriations bill, which includes all 12 spending bills. Within the Labor-HHS-Education portion of the FY2022 omnibus, the bill provides $44.95 billion for NIH, a $2.25 billion increase (+5.3%) over FY2021 and $620 million for the BRAIN Initiative. In addition, the bill would provide $1 billion for the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) through the HHS Office of the Secretary. Within the Commerce-Justice-Science portion of the FY2022 omnibus, the bill provides $8.84 billion for NSF, a $351 million increase (+4.1%) over FY2021, the largest increase to NSF in 12 years. The House has passed the omnibus, as well as a short-term CR through March 15, to allow any additional time necessary for the Senate to complete work on the omnibus before the current CR expires on March 11.
President Biden Names Top Science Officials
Following the resignation of OSTP director Eric Lander, President Biden has named current Deputy Director for Science and Society at OSTP, Dr. Alondra Nelson as the director of OSTP and former NIH Director, Dr. Francis Collins as his top science advisor and co-chair of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Both individuals will hold these positions until permanent leadership is nominated and confirmed.
New Report Shows Growth in Federal and Private Sector Medical R&D Investment
In a recently published report by Research!America, U.S. Investments in Medical and Health Research and Development 2016-2020, total U.S. Investment in medical and health research and development (R&D) grew by 11.1% from 2019 to 2020, reaching $245.1 billion. The federal government accounted for just over 25% of U.S. spending ($61.5 billion) with the NIH alone accounting for 20% of that spending in 2020 ($48.9 billion), making it the second largest funder of medical and health research after the biopharmaceutical industry.
Register for Biomedical Research Awareness Day
Americans for Medical Progress (AMP) is hosting Biomedical Research Awareness Day (BRAD) on Thursday, April 21. BRAD is an international outreach program that seeks to increase public awareness about animal roles in biomedical research, including that of non-human primates, and the resulting medical advancements that benefit both humans and animals. It also builds a research advocate community and showcases biomedical research and laboratory animal care and medicine careers.
NABR Hosting Webinar on Ethics And Regulation of Animal Research
The National Association for Biomedical Research (NABR) is hosting a webinar, “Selected Events in the Evolution of the Ethics and Regulation of Research Involving Animals” on Tuesday, April 5 at 12:30 pm EST. Guest speaker Ernie Prentice will discuss key events in the history of biomedical research that helped shape the environment in which we work today including the beginning of the modern era of the animal rights movement in 1981, the 1985 amendment of the Animal Welfare Act marking the birth of IACUCs and many more.
SfN Advocacy Resources:
- Introduce yourself to the new Congress via the Advocacy Action Center.
- Watch the Neuroscientist’s Guide to Advocacy series to understand the tools you need to help advance the field.
- Learn how to engage your members of Congress and effectively advocate for science with SfN's Advocacy Best Practices.
- Get involved in global advocacy.
- Talk to the public about the importance of animal research.
- Reach out to advocacy@sfn.org for assistance in preparing for your next advocacy effort at home or on Capitol Hill.
