AAMC Reporter: July 2005

AAMC President Jordan J. Cohen, M.D., and NIH Director Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D., launch the Fulfilling the Promise campaign on Capitol Hill

New AAMC Campaign Focuses on America's Medical Research Team

By Cori Vanchieri, special to the AAMC Reporter

On June 20, the AAMC officially launched "Fulfilling the Promise," a new campaign to build awareness of the teamwork between the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and researchers at the nation's medical schools and teaching hospitals. NIH Director Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D., joined AAMC President Jordan J. Cohen, M.D., for the campaign kickoff on Capitol Hill.

The effort was developed to address a knowledge gap revealed by 2004 AAMC public opinion research. The poll showed that while congressional staff have favorable opinions of medical schools and teaching hospitals and the NIH, a plurality of those surveyed were unaware of the role medical schools and teaching hospitals play in conducting the majority of the NIH's extramural research.

Calling medical schools and teaching hospitals the "nation's research engines," Cohen explained that in fiscal year 2005, $23.6 billion of the NIH's $28 billion budget supported extramural research, with medical schools and teaching hospitals receiving just over half of that extramural funding, or about $13 billion. This federal support is used to conduct basic, clinical, and translational research, as well as train the next generation of physicians and scientists.

"Every day, academic researchers work to better understand biology and disease, and the new knowledge they produce lays the foundation for the commercial development of new drugs, devices, and therapies that improve health and fight disease," said Cohen. "We are very appreciative of the support that medical research has received from Congress and the American people."

Both Cohen and Zerhouni made the point that NIH-funded research at medical schools and teaching hospitals has contributed to important health improvements, inclu-ding a 50 percent reduction in deaths from heart disease and stroke, better cancer survival rates, and a 25 percent reduction in disability rates among individuals over age 65.

"We need to change medicine in the 21st century so that we intervene before symptoms exist," said NIH Director Zerhouni. "We believe that with our partners at medical schools and teaching hospitals, our work will transform medicine."

Zerhouni cited several recent medical advances resulting from the teamwork between NIH and academic medicine. Breast cancer patients now have a new decision-making tool because of research by the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project, based at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. The scientists found 16 genes that differentiate women whose cancer will recur years after treatment from those who will likely remain cancer free.

Medical schools and teaching hospitals also help NIH study hard-to-reach populations, the NIH director said. For example, eight medical schools in Washington, Arizona, Massachusetts, Texas, Illinois, New York, and North Carolina are involved in the Inner City Asthma Study. This study discovered that children with asthma who underwent allergy testing followed by simple reduction of relevant allergens and tobacco smoke in their homes suffered 20 percent fewer days of symptoms a year than children not receiving the intervention.

Zerhouni said more symptom-free days translate into better quality of life, fewer emergency room visits, and lower healthcare costs. "We couldn't have done this research without those eight medical schools," he said.

The $28 billion that the NIH received from Congress in 2004 translates into an investment of $96 per American per year into research to stem the burden of about 400 common diseases and 6,000 rare diseases, according to Zerhouni.

"Ninety six dollars buys about two tanks of gas these days," Zerhouni said. "We need to be sure it gets us where we want to be." He pointed to three recent planning efforts to maximize that investment: the NIH Roadmap initiative, the Strategic Plan for NIH Obesity Research, and the NIH Neuroscience Blueprint.

The doubling of the NIH budget from 1998 to 2003 also has "deepened the bench" of the nation's scientists, according to Zerhouni. Many states and institutions that did not have the wherewithal before have expanded their research portfolios. Idaho has seen a 682 percent increase in research; Wyoming, 326 percent; Kentucky, 192 percent; Oklahoma, 140 percent.

"The doubling of the NIH budget encouraged medical schools to take risks–build the buildings, recruit the staff, train the scientists–so they could be prepared to act on the research opportunities that arise," said Cohen. That increased capacity has resulted in stiffer competition to win NIH grants, Zerhouni explained. More researchers are applying for NIH funding. In 1997, 22,000 researchers applied for funding. In 2005, 44,000 applied. "That's a guarantee of quality," he said. Through an intensely competitive peer-review process, NIH funds about 32 percent of applicants.

Cohen closed the session by noting that the best in medical research is yet to come. With the mapping of the human genome, whole new fields of research are emerging to better diagnose, prevent, and treat disease. Increased federal support for research is "essential to building on the progress already made," Cohen said.

In addition to Capitol Hill briefings over the next 18 months addressing NIH-supported research on specific disease topics, the Fulfilling the Promise campaign consists of a searchable Web database of NIH-funded discoveries and innovations at medical schools and teaching hospitals, print advertising, and other activities that show how NIH support is helping medical schools and teaching hospitals fulfill the promise of improving the nation's health.

To view a Webcast of the June briefing or to learn more about the progress of NIH-funded research at medical schools and teaching hospitals, go to www.aamc.org/ftp.

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