I have been telling my students for years that National Institutes of Health is somewhat of a misnomer (E. Garfield, "Should NIH Change Its Name?", The Scientist, April 28, 1997, page 9). We really have a National Institutes of Diseases (for example, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, and so forth). Proposals that deal with curing diseases are much likely to be funded than proposals designed to improve health.
- Jeffrey A. Chesky
- Professor of Gerontology
- University of Illinois at Springfield
- Springfield, Ill. 62794-9243
- E-mail: chesky@uis.edu
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