September 2008 Advocacy Update

Surgeon General Issues Call to Action to Prevent and Reduce Deep-Vein Thrombosis and Pulmonary Embolism
Acting U.S. Surgeon General Steven K. Galson released a Call to Action on Deep-Vein Thrombosis (DVT) and Pulmonary Embolism (PE) on September 15. The Call to Action seeks to raise public awareness of this blood condition, increase research on the causes, prevention, and treatment of DVT and PE, and share evidence-based practices.

ASH Launches New Campaign to Educate Consumers on Vital Connection Between Blood and Personal Health
ASH has launched a new public education campaign and Web site, Blood: The Vital Connection, with the goal of helping health-care consumers understand the important role of blood in overall health. Read More.

Congress to Consider Short-Term Funding Resolution; Continued Grassroots Efforts Needed to Ensure Highest Possible Funding Level for NIH
Congress has returned from the annual August district work recess with a shortened legislative schedule. Read More.

The National Academies Releases 2008 Amendments for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research
The National Academies' Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research Committee released the updated Guidelines for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research on September 5, 2008. The guidelines were established by a joint effort of the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine in 2005 to provide a set of ethical national standards for research involving human embryonic stem cells (hES). Read More.

Legislation Introduced to Overturn NIH Public Access Policy
Some members of Congress have begun examining the National Institutes of Health (NIH) public access policy with regard to copyright law and have introduced legislation to block the policy. Read More.

NIH Director Testifies Before Congress on Implementation of NIH Reauthorization Legislation
The House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee recently held a hearing on the impact the NIH Reform Act of 2006 has had on the operations of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), where NIH Director Elias Zerhouni, MD testified that "NIH has fully implemented the Reform Act." Read More.

NCRR Announces 2009-2013 Strategic Plan
The National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) has formally unveiled its 2009-2013 Strategic Plan, which incorporates many of ASH's comments and suggestions. Read More.

NIH Announces New Transformative R01 Funding Program
NIH has announced that it intends to invest more than $250 million over the next five years to "foster bold and creative investigator-initiated research" through a new transformative R01 (T-R01) program. Read More.

NIH Accepting Applications for Extramural Loan Repayment Programs
NIH has announced that it is currently accepting applications for its five extramural Loan Repayment Programs (LRPs). Read More.

NIH Launches Web Site Detailing Extramural Response to Natural Disasters and Other Emergencies
NIH has launched a new Web site for the extramural research community detailing the agency's response to national disasters and other emergencies. The site is intended to serve as a resource for the entire biomedical research community and will contain NIH Guide Notices and other information of particular relevance to investigators and their institutions, links to web pages listing NIH's response to certain major events (past and present); and links to similar Web sites from other federal agencies.

NHLBI Announces Sickle Cell Disease Workshop
The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) has announced that it will host a workshop entitled Sickle Cell Disease Workshop: Clinical Priorities and Clinical Trials. The workshop will attempt to address the most important clinical trials that need to be conducted in areas that have been identified as high priorities for sickle cell disease, as well as the best way to organize those trials. The workshop will be held on October 22 to 24 at the DoubleTree Hotel in Bethesda, MD. For more information, visit the NHLBI Web site.

ASH's 50th Anniversary Celebrated by Senator Tom Harkin in U.S. Senate
Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA) recently congratulated ASH on its 50th anniversary and recognized the many biomedical research accomplishments of hematologists during a speech on the floor of the U.S. Senate. Read More.

Blood Moves to Weekly Publication in 2009
Blood, the journal of the American Society of Hematology, will change from a semimonthly to weekly schedule effective with the January 1, 2009, issue. Read More.