BIOPHYSICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER
6
NOVEMBER
2014
Public Affairs
Over 300 Rally for Medical
Research on Capitol Hill
The Biophysical Society joined more than 300
other organizations on September 18 under the
banner of the “Rally for Medical Research” to urge
Congress to increase our nation’s investment in
medical research and, specifically, increase funding
for NIH.
BPS members
Jenna Campbell
, Boston Consulting
Group, and
Richard Brennan
, Duke University,
joined 300 individuals representing researchers,
patients, survivors, clinicians, and industry repre-
sentatives in visiting 200 Congressional offices to
call for a stronger investment in medical research.
The Rally was kicked off by a reception the eve-
ning before, where attendees heard from Senator
Dick Durbin
(D-IL), NIH Director
Francis Col-
lins
, actress
Laura Bell Bundy
, and Miss USA
Nia
Sanchez
. Senator
Amy Klobuchar
(D-MN) spoke
the morning of the Hill day. In addition,
President
Obama
sent a brief statement of support that was
read at the reception.
The Congressional visits in Washington DC were
accompanied by a nationwide “Day of Action.”
The Society, along with other participating organi-
zations, urged members to contact their represen-
tatives by email, phone, and social media to urge
them to increase funding for medical research.
Congress Keeps Government
Running with Continuing
Resolution
The Federal Government has yet again started
its fiscal year, which began October 1, operat-
ing under a continuing resolution, which extends
funding for all federal agencies and programs at
FY 2014 levels through December 11, 2014. By
approving a budget to keep the government op-
erational through December, Congress has put off
any tough fiscal decisions until after the Novem-
ber elections. At that time members will no longer
be on the campaign trail and will know which
party will control Senate for the next two years.
While Congress got off to a strong start approving
a budget resolution for 2015 in January, it failed
to pass a single appropriations bill. The House
passed 7 of the 12 annual appropriation bills, but
the Senate did not approve any.
NIGMS Advisory Council
Approves Pilot Funding
Program
At its September meeting, the NIGMS Advi-
sory Council approved a new pilot program for
research funding distributed by the Institute.
Replacing multiple grants, the Maximizing Inves-
tigators’ Research Award (MIRA) program will
provide a single award in support of all the proj-
ects in an investigator’s lab that are relevant to the
NIGMS mission. The MIRA awards will be given
for a longer period and at a higher funding level
than current average NIGMS R01 awards. The
pilot program will initially be open to investigators
who currently have at least two NIGMS R01s, as
well as new investigators.
In response to a call for comments on the pro-
posed program, the Biophysical Society’s Public
Affairs Committee encouraged NIGMS to care-
fully evaluate the pilot program to see how it is
impacting the portfolio. Specifically, the Commit-
tee asked NIGMS to analyze the percentage of the
budget for new/competing grants spent on MIRA
