IC Directors' Meeting Highlights |
August 8, 2006
Discussion Items I. Hurricane Katrina Supplements and Extensions Dr. Kitt stated that following the disaster of Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans lost almost half of its population. With the combination of the hurricane and the ensuing flooding, there was a dramatic impact on bench and clinical research. The impact of Katrina on bench research includes:
The impact of Katrina on clinical research includes the following:
Consistent concerns are the lost time and disruption of research, the retention of staff and programs, and inconsistent NIH response. Dr. Kitt concluded with recommendations (unanimously agreed upon by the Steering Committee) that would implement an NIH-wide consistent approach:
The Steering Committee’s recommendation was that the ICs supporting the projects would have the responsibility for supporting successful applications for funded extensions and one-time supplements. The Trans-NIH Katrina Team would provide oversight for incoming requests from eligible institutions. II. Steering Committee Discussion Regarding Potential NIH Reauthorization Legislation Dr. Hodes reported on a Steering Committee discussion regarding a draft concept paper on NIH reauthorization provided by the Committee on Energy and Commerce. Dr. Hodes stated that there appears to be strong momentum for a bill this year, especially since the last time NIH was reauthorized was in 1993. Ms. Gray reported that Energy and Commerce staff are working on a draft bill and NIH may have an opportunity to review the draft. The Chairman recently indicated his intent to introduce the bill prior to the August recess and may also hold an NIH reauthorization hearing as well. The Steering Committee had three major issues of concern with the draft concept paper, including:
IC Directors concurred with the Steering Committee's concerns in the concept paper. OLPA will share those concerns with the Committee. III. Halving Premature Death: Is it Realistic? Dr. Glass welcomed and introduced Sir Richard Peto and thanked him for his willingness to provide this special presentation to the NIH IC Directors. Sir Peto presentation focused on individual tobacco hazards and mortality trends attributed to tobacco. He started by discussing the main messages that should be shared with all smokers:
His studies have shown that on the average, for men born between 1900 and 1930, cigarette smokers lost about 10 years, however cessation at ages 60, 50, 40, or 30 gains ~3, 6, 9, or almost the full 10 years. He then shared numerous graphs depicting the effects of tobacco consumption and how it attributes to cancer mortality, especially to lung cancer at younger ages in both males and females. Sir Peto stated that the effects of tobacco are even more dominant in the U.K. than in the U.S. He noted that in the U.S. there are still around one million new smokers per year and that half of these will eventually be killed by tobacco if they don’t stop. In the world there are approximately 30 million new smokers per year. He stressed that if this trend continues that the total deaths attributed to tobacco consumption in the 21st century could reach 1 billion, this compares with a total of approximately 100 million in the 20th century. Sir Peto concluded by stating that the prevention of a substantial proportion of tobacco deaths requires adult cessation and by continuing to reduce the percentage of children that start smoking. Ann Brewer |
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