Congress finalized the 2010 federal appropriations process on Sunday, December 11. The Fiscal Year 2010 Omnibus Appropriations Bill included six spending bills that covered a range of domestic and State Department programs including key federal science agencies.

Both the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF) will see an increase in their 2010 budgets. Congress agreed on a 2.3% increase for the NIH, which will have a $31 billion budget next year. This represents an increase of about $692 million over the agency's 2009 budget (not counting the billions from the recovery funding) and is about $250 million more than President Barack Obama's budget request for the NIH.

The NSF fared a little better, receiving a $436 million budget bump to bring its 2010 budget to a $6.9 billion. This is a 6.7% increase over NSF's 2009 base budget and includes $310 million for climate change research, modeling, and education.

President Obama signed the Omnibus Bill into law in mid-December.

On September 16, the Coalition for the Life Sciences (CLS) had the opportunity to bring 18 of its grassroots members to Capitol Hill to meet with their federal representatives. The participating scientists ranged in career level from post-doc to faculty member to department chair. Participants came from as far as California and as close as Georgetown University in Washington, DC.

Capitol Hill Days are a unique opportunity to experience first hand the inner-workings of the Federal government. Participants had the opportunity to discuss their research and relate its impact on the nation’s economy, as well as educate Members of Congress on the importance of funding the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation in order to advance biomedical research. Most importantly, it is an opportunity for researchers to thank their elected officials for their ongoing support and commitment to the scientific enterprise.

The day began early in the morning with a “boot camp” breakfast at which CLS Director Lynn Marquis briefed participants on how to conduct a meeting with Members of Congress. The boot camp is designed to ensure that the day’s meetings are effective and worthwhile. At boot camp, participants had the opportunity to review the CLS’ talking points, answer any remaining questions, and participate in a practice meeting.

The CLS arranged more than 30 meetings for the participants throughout the day with Members of Congress or their key health staff. The participating scientists emphasized the importance of maintaining a dependable and sustainable level of support for the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, especially given the “cliff” in available dollars that will occur when funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act ceases at the end of eighteen months.

Participants had the opportunity to attend a luncheon briefing of the Congressional Biomedical Research Caucus (CBRC). Dr. Shelley Carson of Harvard University was the featured speaker and spoke on the topic “Does Aging Bring Wisdom?” The CBRC presents several scientific briefings throughout the year in order to inform and educate Congress about the advances made by our investment in medical research. Seventy five Members of the House of Representatives and nine Members of the Senate comprise the CBRC membership with Brian Bilbray (R-CA), Michael Castle (R-DE), Jackie Speier (D-CA), and Rush Holt (D-NJ) serving as co-chairs.

All Capitol Hill participants came away with a new-found appreciation for the intricacies of the workings of the federal government and the legislative process that governs science and research funding policy. Now, the participants can be more comfortable as active scientific citizens and engage their elected officials at home in their district, as well as making it a point to visit when they happen to be in Washington, DC.

Bethesda, Maryland (September 2, 2009) – The Coalition for the Life Sciences (CLS) is pleased to announce that Dr. Keith Yamamoto of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), will be its new Chair, replacing Dr. Harold Varmus. Dr. Yamamoto has been on the Board of the CLS (formerly the Joint Steering Committee for Public Policy) since 1996. He has been a member of the UCSF faculty since 1976 and is currently a Professor of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology and Executive Vice Dean of the School of Medicine; his lab studies signal transduction and transcriptional regulation of gene networks by nuclear hormone receptors.

“It is humbling and exciting for me to work with this remarkable group. I am excited about the breadth of experience, insight, and focus that our group can bring to bear in defining and advocating key issues in the area of biomedical research,” remarked Dr. Yamamoto upon his acceptance of the leadership position at the CLS.

Dr. Yamamoto serves on numerous editorial boards and scientific advisory boards, and national committees focused on public and scientific policy, public understanding and support of biological research, and science education.

He has also long been involved in the process of peer review and the policies that govern it at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), serving in numerous capacities and most recently as the co-chair of the working group to Enhance NIH Peer Review, and co-chair of the Review Committee for the Transformational R01 Award. He recently gave a briefing on behalf of the Congressional Biomedical Research Caucus on the peer-review process at the NIH, entitled “Finding and Funding the Best Science.”

The Coalition for the Life Sciences is an alliance of seven non-profit professional organizations working together to foster public policies that advance basic biological research and its applications in medicine and other fields.

For further information, please call Lynn Marquis, the Director of the CLS, at (301) 347-9309 or visit www.coalitionforlifesciences.org.