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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"">The $2 Billion NIH Grant Budget Increase<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"">After over a decade of minimal to no increases in the
<span class="quotecard"><a href="http://www.forbes.com/companies/national-institutes-of-health" target="_self"><span style="color:#003891;text-decoration:none">National Institutes of Health</span></a>
</span>(NIH) budget, this past Friday, President <a href="http://www.forbes.com/profile/barack-obama/" target="_self">
<span style="color:#003891;text-decoration:none">Barack Obama</span></a> signed into law a bill that would increase the NIH budget by $2 billion ($30 billion to $32 billion). The benefits of this increased investment go well beyond the scientific and educational
communities and could help the common folk.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"">First some specifics of the new legislation. The president signed the bill shortly after the House of Representatives passed the legislation by 316 to 113 vote, with 95 Republicans
and 18 Democrats voting against the legislation. The $2 billion increase will include an additional $350 million for Alzheimer’s research, $200 million for the Precision Medicine Initiative, $85 million for the BRAIN Initiative, and $303 million for combating
antibiotic-resistant bacteria.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif""><a href="http://www.faseb.org/portals/2/pdfs/opa/2008/nih_research_benefits.pdf" target="_blank"><span style="color:#003891;text-decoration:none">This congressional report</span></a>
summarizes the impact that the NIH had had as of 2000. This included the observations that well over half of key medications would not exist without NIH support and that NIH research has led to changes that have saved and improved millions of lives. The impact
has undoubtedly grown since this report was issued fifteen years ago. In fact, the report may underestimate the impact. For example, it did not fully account for the fact that many healthcare, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies are founded by people
who at some point in their careers worked in an organization funded by the NIH…even if they do not officially attribute their products to the NIH.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif""><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"">For years the United States has been a world leader in biomedicine, public health and health research and science. But this top position is far from a birthright. Many other countries
such as China and Singapore are pouring resources into biomedical and public-health research.
<a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/janetraedupree/2013/09/25/us-scientists-are-leaving-the-country-and-taking-the-innovation-economy-with-them/" target="_self">
<span style="color:#003891;text-decoration:none">Many talented scientists have been moving to other countries</span></a> due to the stagnation of NIH funding levels, which is creating a “brain drain” from the United States.
<span class="tweetquote3"><a href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=http%3A%2F%2Fonforb.es%2F1QTBjzV&text=Lack%20of%20scientific%20funding%20could%C2%A0also%20result%20in%20fewer%20scientists%20and%20threaten%20the%20U.S.%27s%20position%20in%20the%20world" target="_blank"><span style="color:black;text-decoration:none">Failure
to keep scientific funding at least on par with inflation could also result in fewer people entering science, which could further threaten the U.S.’s position in the world.</span></a></span> Maintaining any leadership or any “dynasty” requires continued investment
and hard work. Complacency can bring down even the most entrenched front-runners. Moreover, with the healthcare industry so large and employing so many people, success of the industry could benefit the overall economy. For example, the Johns Hopkins medical
institutions alone, which includes the <a href="http://www.jhsph.edu/"><span style="color:#003891;text-decoration:none">Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health</span></a>,
<a href="http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/som/"><span style="color:#003891;text-decoration:none">School of Medicine</span></a> and Health System, is the
<a href="http://www.baltimoresun.com/bal-rg-mdbusiness21-story.html"><span style="color:#003891;text-decoration:none">second largest employer in the State of Maryland</span></a> (and this does not even include the many other parts of Johns Hopkins University
that also receive NIH funding). [On a similar note, Oklahoma higher education supports the economy of the State of Oklahoma.
</span><span lang="EN" style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"">Expenditures of the Oklahoma public higher education system generate
<span class="subnavcolorboldred1"><span style="font-family:"Georgia","serif"">$9.2 billion</span></span> in economic output impacts in the state and support more than
<span class="subnavcolorboldred1"><span style="font-family:"Georgia","serif"">85,000</span></span> Oklahoma jobs.]</span><span lang="EN" style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif"">
</span><span style="font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Georgia","serif""><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Monotype Corsiva";color:#1F497D">Linda Mason, Ed.D.<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">Coordinator of Grant Writing
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">655 Research Parkway, Suite 200<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">Oklahoma City, OK 73104<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">405-225-9486 desk<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">405-706-8757 cell<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#1F497D">405-225-9230 FAX<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><a href="mailto:lmason@osrhe.edu"><span style="color:blue">lmason@osrhe.edu</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:#1F497D"><a href="http://www.okhighered.org/grant-opps/"><span style="color:blue">www.okhighered.org/grant-opps/</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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