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May 27, 2009

Senate Appropriations Subcommittee looks at NIH budget

The University of Kansas is an active member of the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) and through its Council on Government Affairs, KU provides its support to higher education initiatives in Washington, D.C. As Congress prepares budgets for federal agencies, various subcommittees are holding hearings on budget priorities, such as the National Institutes of Health.

Below is a summary from Greg Kuhn, an APLU intern, on the FY2010 Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing from last week. It provides a good summary of the hearing and insight into the Senate's current thinking on NIH funding.

APLU Update

Committee: Senate Committee on Appropriations
Subcommittee: Senate Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education
Hearing Subject: FY2010 National Institutes of Health (NIH) Budget Request
Members Present: Chairman Tom Harkin (D-IA), Richard Shelby (R-AL)

Witnesses:

• Dr. Raynard Kington, Acting Director, NIH
• Dr. John Niederhuber, Director, National Cancer Institute
• Dr. Elizabeth Nabel, Director, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
• Dr. Anthony Fauci, Director, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Opening Statement:
Chairman Harkin said scientific advancement will benefit the U.S. economy. One NIH grant creates on average six to seven jobs and could lead to further developments. While the Chairman is excited about the spark American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds have provided the realm of biomedical research, he is concerned about the future of the NIH after FY2011, when the ARRA funds run out.

Testimony:
The FY2010 NIH budget request of $31 billion is an increase of $433 million, 1.4 percent, over FY2009. The NIH also received an appropriation of $10.4 billion from the ARRA. Dr. Kington said these funds will help achieve the President's goal of increasing overall federal investment in basic biomedical research and development, with a particular weight placed on the areas of cancer and autism. Research Project Grants (RPGs) are a necessity for any form of scientific research and development, and the FY2010 NIH budget requests a $243-million increase in RPG funding. The FY2010 NIH budget requests an increase of $268 million, 5.0 percent, over FY2009 for cancer research. This increases NIH investment in cancer research and meets the NIH plan to double its cancer research funding by 2017. Kington also said the FY2010 NIH budget "invests $141 million of the $211 million Department-wide initiative on Autism," which is an increase of $19 million, 16.0 percent, above the estimated FY2009 level.

Kington highlighted some of the key NIH projects funded by the ARRA that would help stimulate the economy while advancing biomedical research. He said the NIH will perform community-based research efforts, evaluate the health and safety risks of nanoscale products, and expand its understanding of the genetic changes associated with a wide range of diseases and conditions. Since ARRA funds are to be spent in the next two years, the NIH is developing approaches to "investing the money quickly with the greatest impact." The Challenge Grant Award and the Grand Opportunity Program (GO grants) are two new programs designed to achieve bold and fast scientific results. The NIH recently issued the largest Request for Applications in its history and expects to allocate at least $200 million to start the Challenge Grant program. Challenge Grants will be awarded to those projects that fit in the fifteen broad scientific areas the NIH believes "...would benefit from a jumpstart or in which a scientific challenge needs to be overcome." Kington said the NIH plans to provide at least $200 million to the GO grants, which are meant to support high-impact and large-scale research projects that require vast amounts of funding and would establish a base-level for new fields of study. This includes projects "...that accelerate critical breakthroughs, early and applied research on cutting-edge technologies, and new approaches to improve the synergy and interactions and multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research teams." NIH will award GO grants in the areas of nanotechnologies, health disparities, arthritis, diabetes, autism, Alzheimer's, HIV vaccine research, and many others. NIH will use other programs like the Academic Research Enhancement Award (AREA) and the Core Center grants to help fund smaller biomedical and behavioral sciences research projects at the university level.

Kington said the NIH understands that ARRA funds are meant to provide an immediate boost to the economy and will provide any institution with an active NIH grant with the opportunity to request an administrative supplement to accelerate the pace of the project. An institution may also submit revision applications to support the expansion of the scope of its research project. These supplements would help create immediate jobs. NIH also plans to use ARRA funds to expand its summer program for teachers and students, providing summer-jobs and research experience for thousands of young people. Kington stated that the $35 million devoted to the summer program will create 3,700 short-term jobs.

Question and Answers:
Senator Shelby said he is particularly passionate about cystic fibrosis research, which suffers from a significant discrepancy between the funding levels for clinical and laboratory research. He asked if the NIH would increase funding for clinical cystic fibrosis research. Kington said the NIH has increased funding for rare genetic disorders research. In regards to cystic fibrosis, Kington said the gene that causes the disease has been isolated. Dr. Nabel added that the issue of clinical research funding levels is important and will be addressed by the NIH.

Chairman Harkin cited a study that said the NIH will only be able to reward less than five percent its massive amount of applications for the Challenge Grant. Kington said the NIH believes it will fund the Challenge Grant program with more than the $200 million floor, but conceded it will still come up short. He believes many of the unrewarded applicants will reapply in the future. Harkin then asked why more funds were not being provided to the Challenge and GO Grants instead of the RO1 Grant. Kington said the funding levels will depend on the type and amount of applications the NIH receives, but he suspects that one third of the RPG funds will go to the RO1 Grants.

The Chairman is concerned about how to measure NIH success with ARRA funds. He believes the NIH results, like the development of new technologies, will come far after the two-year ARRA timeline, and asked if the NIH should be allowed to extend its programs to four years. Kington said the NIH has already planned on two-year programs, but it might benefit from the increased flexibility. Harkin also asked each witness to provide one example of something they are able to do now that they could not do without ARRA funds. The witnesses all said they now have the ability to accelerate many projects to propel them to previously unattainable levels. Drs. Nabel and Niederhuber specifically mentioned the genetic sequencing they are now able to perform for particular diseases.

Harkin asked what the NIH intends to do about conflicts-of-interest cases. He said the number of investigations into private investors providing funds directly to the personal bank accounts of scientific researchers has increased. The Chairman said this problem is perplexing and cited a quote from an NIH employee that said the NIH is unsure it can change regulations. Kington said the quote was taken out of context and that the NIH does have a chance to increase its oversight. He added that the NIH is strengthening its training and support systems.

Harkin asked Dr. Fauci about the status of H1N1. Fauci said H1N1 is still active in the U.S. and the rest of the world. He is concerned about how the virus will spread throughout the Southern Hemisphere as it enters the fall and winter seasons. How the virus behaves in the Southern Hemisphere will be an excellent reflection of what will happen in the U.S. next fall. Fauci also said the development of a vaccine has begun, but that the "go-or-no-go" process is time consuming. He does not believe the virus will change enough to render the eventual vaccine ineffective.

The Chairman also addressed his concern that of the $442 million increase in the FY2010 NIH budget over FY2009, $290 million will go to cancer and autism research alone. This only leaves an increase of $152 million for every other disease or condition.