ACT for NIH Announces New Advisory Committee Members

WASHINGTON, July 15, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- ACT for NIH announced today it has added seven new members to its esteemed Advisory Committee.  They are:

Retta Beery, Founder, Hope Knows No Boundaries
The Honorable Eric Cantor, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Moelis & Company
The Honorable Tom Harkin, The Harkin Institute for Public Policy and Citizen Engagement
Siddhartha Mukherjee, M.D., Ph.D., Author of Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer
Perry Nisen, M.D., Ph.D., CEO, Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute
Sean Parker, Founder, The Parker Foundation
Lori Wilson, M.D., FACS, Associate Professor of Surgery, Howard University College of Medicine

"We are honored to have these talented individuals bring their passion and expertise to our advisory committee," said Jed Manocherian, ACT for NIH Founder and Chairman.  "They join an influential committee that has educated Senators, Representatives, and other policymakers about the urgent need to restore NIH funding to find cures for patients ravaged by all dreaded diseases," he added.  "We have an historic opportunity to alleviate suffering and death for countless millions around the world.  There are too many patients to be patient."

"NIH research funding has languished for years, having been flat or cut since 2003," said ACT for NIH President Pat White.  "Since we started ACT for NIH a little over a year ago, both the House and Senate Budget Resolutions have asserted NIH funding as a priority, House and Senate Appropriators have proposed the biggest NIH increases since 2003, both the House and Senate have formed NIH Caucuses, and the 21^st Century Cures legislation, which passed the House last week by a vote of 344-77, would increase NIH funding by nearly 21 percent over the next three years.  This is great news for patients, and it's great news for everyone working for more biomedical research, new cures, and therapies.  We are on a path to restore NIH funding," White added.

These new members join the current Advisory Committee made up of award-winning researchers, academic leaders, philanthropists, and passionate advocates for medical research:

David Baltimore, Ph.D., President Emeritus, California Institute of Technology
Ronald DePinho, M.D., President, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
Jennifer Doudna, Ph.D., Professor, University of California, Berkeley
Bernadette Gray-Little, Ph.D., Chancellor, University of Kansas
Michael Milken, Medical Research Innovator and Public Health Advocate
Ronald Petersen, M.D., Ph.D., Director, Mayo Alzheimer's Disease Research Center; Professor of Neurology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine

ACT for NIH: Advancing Cures Today is a non-partisan effort committed to advancing biomedical research in the United States. Our goal is simple: we seek the immediate restoration of funding for NIH followed by steady, predictable path for future investment in lifesaving research for patients around the world.  Learn more about our work and advocacy priorities at actfornih.org and by following us on Twitter: @ACTforNIH.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150715/237017-INFO

SOURCE ACT for NIH

Related Links

http://actfornih.org