Research! America: Big Plans For 1994

"Medical research is a slow and painstaking process, but the fulfillment that comes when one is able to save lives and alleviate suffering makes it all worthwhile." This statement by Nobelist Gertrude Elion, gracing the cover of Research!America's 1993 annual report, sums up our organization's fundamental mission. Research!America is determined to increase public awareness of medical research's value--of its role in improving the quality of life for everyone. In late November, we released the results of a nationwide Harris poll--commissioned by our organization--showing that the American public overwhelmingly considers medical research to be the single most valuable type of scientific research, with two-thirds of respondents ranking it as their top priority. The poll indicated that nine of 10 Americans feel the nation should spend more than it already spends to diagnose, prevent, and treat disease. And three-fourths of those surveyed said they are willing to support additional research by paying a dollar a week more in taxes, a dollar a week more in health insurance, and a dollar more per prescription drug. The survey data provide us--and should provide all citizens- -with strong indications that the nation's governmental decision-makers are not making medical research a high enough priority. I testified to that effect before the United States Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources on December 8. Members of this committee were clearly alerted to the priorities of their constituents: Americans want a greater national commitment to medical research. Research!America is dedicated to making biomedical research a higher national priority. The commissioning of the poll and my congressional testimony marked a new level of visibility for Research!America's work and set the stage for our efforts this year. On March 9, our organization will hold its annual meeting in Washington, with Harold Varmus--the new director of the National Institutes of Health--serving as our keynote speaker. In conjunction with the meeting, Research!America will convene a forum to forge a consensus agenda and action plan for 1994 to those who are concerned that research and health care reform may be on a collision course. The value of a unified message can hardly be overemphasized as we mount a campaign to ensure that health care is being driven by research, rather than driving research away. The annual meeting is to serve as a rallying point for action toward achieving our organization's 1994 advocacy goals. Members will be called on and will be given the tools to translate rhetoric into reality. In partnership with such groups as the American Medical Association, the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, the Association of American Medical Colleges, the National Health Council, and the National Pharmaceutical Council, Research!America will convene a summit meeting this spring to develop a shared vision of research and health, endeavoring to get beyond the annual, incremental, crisis- driven approach to support that has characterized the last decade. Consistent with our goal of significantly broadening the public constituency for research, half of those invited to this summit will be drawn from outside the research community. By involving a wider spectrum of stakeholders to participate alongside the members of the research "family," we expect to develop strategies, tactics, and programs that can be used nationwide to immediately activate strongly felt but rarely expressed public support for research. Research!America will quickly transmit the outcomes of both our forum on research and health care and the summit on research and health to citizens and elected officials across the nation. We will also use the lessons of those sessions in hands-on fashion as we scale up our grass-roots efforts with a campaign designed for metropolitan New York City. Given the popularity and sustained effectiveness of outreach programs in previous years (Maryland in 1992 and North Carolina in 1993), our organization is now ready to focus on one of the world's largest metropolitan areas. With the support of the medical, biotechnology, academic, voluntary, and philanthropic communities, "Research!New York City" will establish a powerful coalition to deliver the message to citizens, opinion shapers, and decision-makers that it's time to increase and sustain government and private-sector funding for research into cures, treatments, and preventions for physical and mental disorders. Like the promise of medical science, advocacy for medical research has unlimited potential. Research!America is dedicated to tapping that potential. Mary Woolley is president of Research!America, a research advocacy organization. For information on membership and other matters, write 1522 King St., Second Floor, Alexandria, Va. 22314; or call (703)-739-2577.

Research! America: Big Plans For 1994

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