Report from Lobby Day

American Heart Association Lobby Day was Tuesday.

I crawled over Capitol Hill with 700 others, wearing red- and a fancy heart pin with LED lights that flashed on and off.

We lobbied for greater funding for NIH. Did you know that during the Clinton administration NIH funding was doubled, but then cut sharply seeing a flat line over the past five years. Accounting for inflation, we are now at a level of funding lower than we would have been without the increases in the 1990s.

NIH funding supports the majority of health related research. In my mind, this is very important because the alternative is drug company sponsored research. Pharmaceutical development is also important, but always driven in the direction of profits. Who would study the use of vitamins in the prevention of heart disease- the NIH that is who!

Last year only 12% of research proposals submitted were funded. That means 78% of scientists (people with MD and/or PhD) received a failing score- and were sent packing. Can we really afford to lose this much talent?

Furthermore although heart disease and stroke are the #1 and #3 killers in every state in the Nation.... of NIH dollars only 7 and 1% respectively are spent on heart research! We deserve a larger piece of the pie.

So Lobby Day was a success. I got to meet my favorite Senator and our Congressman. I spent the day with grateful patients. Far away from the hospital and research lab, I spread the word about something I care about- and got a little smarter through the process.

In a moment of introspection how did the state of research funding affect my decision to leave science? As generation X-ers we are blamed for being motivated by recognition and always looking out for ourselves. I am sorry, but after 12 years of extra training I cannot accept a job equivalent to what I could have done when graduating college with a BS in Chemistry in 1996. It is because I care that it has be so difficult for me.