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Wed May 26, 2010 at 10:05:42 AM MST
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( - promoted by Fong)
The Obama administration has a hard time getting credit for the good things it has accomplished. So it matters that there is some interesting infrastructure work going on that will help improve our nation's health. We know that economics are going to be critical and cost cutting is essential but we also know that our health care needs improving. In the past few weeks, there were two indications of progress in that direction. One is the Presidential appointment, and the acceptance of the appointment, of Harold Varmus, M.D., to be Director of the National Cancer Institute at the National Institutes of Health and the other is the "carrot" being given to biotech firms to reward therapeutic discovery projects. A total of $1 billion in tax credits and grants is available to firms who have made investments made in 2009 and 2010 or who have promising unfunded projects. |
| ClarissaW :: Health Care Reform |
| Why is it so important that Harold Varmus will direct the NCI? A Nobel laureate, and an absolutely top professional and a man of brilliant intellect and achievement, he knows the field, he knows the NCI and the NIH, which he directed from 1993 to 1999. He then became President of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York until January 2010. Cancer death rates are declining, but still are all too high. In recognition of this, the 2010 Presidential Budget for NCI is marked at $5.15 billion. Past research has been intense and productive, but the research structure is rigid and in need of innovation. In April 2010 the Institute of Medicine issued a critical report on cancer clinical trials. These studies are essential studies of safety and therapeutic value of potential treatments. They are usually lengthy and costly and need to be updated. While NIH Director, Varmus made important changes in the intramural research program to increase collaborations across institutes. He championed on-line publishing and challenged the world of scientific publications. It is a safe bet that Varmus will bring innovation to NCI.
The biotech industry, in many ways the fruit of the National Cancer Institute's basic research program, is an American success story. Innovation in biotech has brought the goal of customized effective treatments into reality although not into comprehensive use. Companies will be able to take tax credits or if they have potential to bring out badly needed treatments or making progress toward curing cancer, AIDS and other disorders, will be eligible to compete for grants. Basic research is the key to new understanding of the body and disease, but it is not always goal-driven in terms of badly needed treatments and cures.
One of the virtues of President Obama as a candidate was his ability to look at a problem from many angles and to recognize that complex problems need complex and varied solutions. These two events are evidence that his administration is taking quiet action to improve the health of our nation. |
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