NIH Hearing Extols Value of All Basic Research

As the science community has called for an increase in federal research funding, it has repeatedly stressed the theme of the interconnectedness of science - the ability of progress in one field of science to benefit a totally separate field. The policy statements that AIP has endorsed in the past year (see FYIs #34 and #127 , 1997) clearly emphasize the interdependence of fields of research. Even champions of biomedical research, which has received generous funding increases in recent years, are speaking out for all of federal science. Harold Varmus, Director of the National Institutes of Health, has frequently stressed the importance of all forms of research to the nation’s health and welfare. Now Rep. John Porter (R-IL), chair of the House appropriations subcommittee which funds NIH, has voiced concern over the state of non-biomedical research. It has been largely through Porter’s influence that NIH has recently received annual increases in the 6 percent range.

At a May 20 hearing, Porter solicited input from six Nobel Prize-winning scientists. Although much of the testimony revolved around NIH research priorities, most of the witnesses echoed the statement by California Institute of Technology President David Baltimore, that “as Congress debates [increasing] the NIH budget...it is crucial to expand opportunities in all of science.” Stanford physicist Steven Chu cited the contributions of physics to biomedicine. “Especially in the nature of instrumentation,” he noted, “the physical sciences contributed greatly.” Collaborations with physicists and chemists will be needed to develop techniques for studying protein folding and for rational design of new drugs, added Stanley Prusiner of the University of California, San Francisco, and Alfred Gilman of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. “There is no reason to suspect that developments in the physical sciences will not continue to contribute to biomedicine,” declared Chu. “These opportunities have to be nurtured.”

“Just as we don’t want to set disease against disease,” Porter stated, “neither do we want to set one science against another.... All have to be valued and brought along at a relatively equal pace.” While biomedical funding has risen dramatically in the last few years, he said, “a lot of other federal research is not doing so well.” Porter urged that with the economy in good shape, this is the time “to make the case [for science funding] more than ever before, not just for biomedicine but all of science.” Subcommittee member Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) agreed with Porter’s sentiments, but asked, partly in jest, whether any techniques from fields like astronomy were finding application in biomedicine. The responses came promptly: Prusiner cited healthcare applications of telescope imaging technologies, Chu pointed to the use in mammography of pattern recognition techniques developed by NASA, and Baltimore mentioned mathematical models that were proving useful in biomedicine.

Porter also raised the issue of attracting young people to science. Prusiner concurred that the government was “underinvesting at the level of postdocs” and research fellows, and suggested reinstating Career Development Awards for young researchers. Scientists are not usually driven by money, he said; “what drives people away is the uncertainty of having their research proposals funded.” Lederberg suggested reducing the stress of the award system by extending the term of a typical NIH grant from 2-3 years to 4-5 years. “We put a very high bar up to a career in our field,” Baltimore agreed.

“If all Members of Congress could hear what we’ve heard this afternoon, they would flock to the concept of increasing funding for research,” Porter concluded.

Among AIP’s Physics Success Stories - exhibits designed to make the case to policymakers for federal funding of research - are two which illustrate the connections between physics and medical research. They can be found on AIP’s Home Page at the following sites:
for Medical Physics, see http://www.aip.org/success/improveshealth/index.html
and for Medical Imaging, see http://www.aip.org/success/saveslives/index.html