Composed of 21 biomedical department chairpersons from 19 different United States universities, the caucus convenes annually at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., to try to educate lawmakers about the importance of increasing funding for the basic biomedical sciences and to lobby for more support. They say ripe fields for investment are molecular and cell biology, molecular genetics, immunology, and structural biology.
In an editorial published last October in the FASEB Journal (6:3133-4, 1992), the caucus proclaimed that the level of NIH funding for basic research cannot be "the previous small and insufficient annual increments that were based largely on matching inflation," but rather "will require doubling current spending for biomedical research over the next few years."
Though the caucus has not yet established any dialogue with the Clinton administration, many of the members are hopeful that funding will increase under the new president. "I think that it's not likely ...
