The Academy of Radiology Research Celebrates House and Senate Appropriations Committee Leadership for $2 Billion Increase in NIH Budget
Washington, DC (PRWEB) December 17, 2015 -- The Fiscal Year 2016 Omnibus Appropriations act released today by Congress will increase vital funding at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) by its largest investment since FY2003. This action reverses a 13 year trend where the purchasing power of the institute had been reduced by nearly 25%, restricting the potential impact made by researchers funded by all constituent institutes at the NIH over the period.
“Thank you to Chairmen Hal Rogers and Tom Cole as well as Ranking Members Nita Lowey and Rosa DeLauro for their leadership with this appropriation of more than $32 billion to the NIH, including a $16.8 million increase for the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB),” remarked Renee L. Cruea, MPA, the Executive Director of the Academy of Radiology Research. “The Academy is proud to have advocated for the establishment of NIBIB 20 years ago, and now to have contributed to this positive outcome for FY2016. We will continue to strive for positive results to enhance patient health through advances in biomedical imaging.”
As noted above, NIBIB received an increase of $16.8 million in FY2016, taking its budget to $346.8 million. This increase will drive advances in understanding, diagnosis, and care, while also generating a significant economic return when considering patent generation resulting from NIBIB funding in particular.
According to analysis of patent output across various federal agencies from 2000-2013, completed by Battelle TPP, NIBIB leads the NIH when assessing new intellectual property across all federal R&D programs in the study, generating 24.9 patents per every $100 million in R&D.
The Academy recognizes that Congress must continue this momentum to restore funding to the NIH at large, and NIBIB in particular, for the years to come. Earlier this month during the 2015 Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) Annual Meeting, attendees sent more than 2,700 letters in support of NIH funding increases to their Members of Congress via the Academy’s grassroots advocacy efforts.
Emboldened by the RSNA participation and the newly announced FY2016 budget increases, the Academy and its extensive network of volunteers plan to continue their tireless efforts to drive continued increases in funding that will outpace inflation, drive discovery, and improve patient care.
Renee Cruea, Academy of Radiology Research, http://www.acadrad.org, +1 202-347-5872, [email protected]
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