• Learn about NIH Funding
  
• Learn about the Udall Centers Evaluation
  
• Learn about Small Business Innovative Research Grants at NIH
  

NIH Funding

PAN continues to be active in supporting increases in funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Along with the Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research, a coalition of over 100 patient advocacy groups, academic institutions, and scientific communities, PAN supports a $1.9 billion, or 6.6 percent, increase for NIH’s budget in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 Labor, Health, and Human Services Appropriations bill. Appropriations for NIH must, at a minimum, keep pace with biomedical inflation. PAN requests an increased federal commitment to the NIH in order to hasten better treatments and cures for Parkinson’s disease and many others.

While PAN advocates for additional funding for NIH, we also fight for a better balance between funding for basic science and patient-oriented science, known as translational and clinical research, at NIH. Without appropriate funding, NIH does not have the resources to engage in the clinical and translational research needed to accelerate the discovery of better treatments and cure for PD. It is a travesty that, over the last five years, NIH has not received adequate funding to keep up with biomedical inflation and this has drastically diminished the amount of research dollars going towards patient-oriented science. Dr. Elias Zerhouni, Director of NIH, said in his congressional testimony on March 19, 2007, “the impact [of NIH budget cuts] is primarily in our ability to translate from the laboratory to the clinic to the bedside into the community what we need to do to prevent diseases.”

In 2007, PAN weighed in with both the House and Senate in favor of the strongest increases possible for NIH. Unfortunately, the enacted Fiscal Year 2008 omnibus bill, which included funding for NIH as well as all non-defense spending bills, only provided $28.94 billion in program funding for NIH -- which equates to 0.46% increase or $133 million over the previous year. This de facto funding cut harms the Parkinson’s community’s on-going efforts to enhance patient-oriented outcomes at NIH.

This year, thanks to the efforts of Parkinson’s disease advocates across the country, we have been successful in securing additional funds for NIH to spend in 2008. The Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 Emergency Supplemental appropriations bill contained $150 million for NIH.

PAN and its advocates continue working to secure a 6.6 percent increase for NIH’s budget in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2009 Appropriations process. In June 2008, the Senate Appropriations Committee approved their version of the FY 2009 Labor, Health, and Human Services Appropriations bill, providing $30.2 billion or a $1.025 billion increase over the FY 2008 level and the President’s budget request. The House Appropriations Committee has yet to complete their version of the bill. Please check the PAN website for updates on NIH funding as the appropriations process moves forward.

Udall Centers Evaluation

Exactly ten years ago, PAN advocates successfully worked to enact legislation that created the Morris K. Udall Centers of Excellence for Parkinson's Disease Research (Udall Centers). On November 13, 1997, the President signed the Morris K. Udall Parkinson’s Disease Research Act of 1997 into law (P.L. 105-78), which created the Udall Centers among other initiatives. Although not every aspect of the legislation was ultimately implemented, the creation of the Udall Centers was an essential component of both the Morris K. Udall Parkinson's Disease Research Act of 1997 as well as overall PAN’s advocacy efforts.

In late 2005, NINDS commissioned the formal evaluation to objectively review the Udall Centers Program. The evaluation of the Centers was sparked by Jeff Martin, as both Chair of the PAN Board of Directors and a member of the National Advisory Neurological Disorders and Stroke Council, when he encouraged NINDS to assess the progress of the Udall Centers Program. PAN continued to be involved in the Udall Centers evaluation as Amy Comstock Rick participated on the Center Program Evaluation Working Group.

The evaluation has been completed and the Working Group found that the Udall Centers Program significantly impacted the Parkinson’s disease research field and recommended that NINDS should continue to support the program. The formal evaluation process also included a Data Report developed by Booz Allen Hamilton, which was utilized by the Working Group to aid in the development of Udall Center program recommendations.

Please download the final Data Report to read background information on the project, study questions and design, and data and analyses on the Udall Centers and a comparison group of Parkinson’s disease researchers. Staff from Booz Allen Hamilton, contracted by the NINDS, developed the study methodology and conducted the data collection and analysis.
Download the Data Report (pdf, 3 MB)

Please download the final Recommendations Report to read the findings and recommendations made by the Working Group.
Download the Recommendations Report (pdf, 353 KB)

NIH Small Business Innovative Research Program