Breakthroughs in BioscienceFrom NIH-Funded Basic Research

to Improved Health

West VirginiaWest Virginia

National Institutes of Health (NIH)

Nation’s medical research agency

Funds the science that leads to medical advancement

Campus in Bethesda, MD– but most funding is distributed to university researchers throughout the United States

The state received more than $24 million in NIH funding during FY08. The majority of the funding went to labs at West Virginia University ($18.5M).

Research Enterprise Is Critical to West Virginia’s Economy

Funding from external sources for total sponsored programs at West Virginia University was $142.9 million in FY2006, with research and development funding at an all time record of $88.3 million.

West Virginia’s biopharmaceutical industry produced 5,833 jobs in the state in 2003, and generated $521.7 million revenue for the state.

Scientific research and development in new areas such as biometrics puts West Virginia on the cutting edge of economic development opportunities.

NIH Grants Support Many Programs in West Virginia

NIH awarded WVU $2.1 million to study air pollution’s effect on the cardiovascular system.

Marshall University (MU), in partnership with West Virginia University (WVU), was awarded a Biomedical Research Infrastructure Network (BRIN) award for a collaborative effort to sponsor research at WV undergraduate institutions.

NIH funds MU’s Center of Biomedical Research Excellence, which focuses on cancer research with a particular emphasis on the role of transcription factors in cancer cell biology.

NIH: Saving Lives Through Science

Current annual budget of around $29.3 billion

Greater than 80% distributed throughout the country More than 50,000 grants

212,000 scientists

2,800 universities

Portfolio of basic, translational, and clinical research

NIH has been involved in nearly all the medical & health related discoveries of the past century

How NIH Makes Science Happen…

Researchers working at local universities, hospitals and research institutions are dependent on federal support to fund their research, hire lab personnel and train young scientists

They write research grant proposals to compete for funding Must explain why they think it’s a good idea, how they’re going to do the

experiments, and what impact it will have on science & medicine

Proposals are reviewed in a two-tiered system Peer-reviewed by scientists to ensure highest quality science Reviewed again for applicability to scientific or health priorities by NIH

officials and other stakeholders, including public members NIH review system is the envy of the world!

Very competitive!!! Before - 1 in 3 proposals funded; now closer to 1 in 6 High quality research is not being done for lack of funding

Basic Research: From Bench to Bedside

Much of NIH funding goes to basic or fundamental research Basic research is driven by interest in a scientific question The main motivation is to expand knowledge and

understanding, not to create or invent something However, the insight into how the human body works and

understanding of how diseases and disorders operate provides the foundation for medical progress

"People cannot foresee the future well enough to predict what's going to develop from basic research. If we only did applied research, we would still be making better spears."

Dr. George Smoot, Berkeley National Lab

What about medical breakthroughs?

Medical breakthroughs often come from unrelated areas of science or medicine Research on cancer biology has led to drugs for: heart disease;

viral diseases like influenza, Herpes & AIDS; and osteoporosis Physicists studying the effects of magnets on atomic particles

made the discovery that gave us MRI Usually based on years or decades of fundamental knowledge

Over time, scientists solve or find different pieces of the puzzle This makes it difficult to predict where the next

breakthrough will come from Makes it imperative to support a broad range of scientific research Much of this research is too basic for the private sector

The federal investment often lays the foundation for advances in healthcare

Evolution of Research to Healthcare

Selected modern examples…

Cardiovascular disease

Information on the biochemical structure & synthesis of cholesterol led to the development of statins

Discoveries in basic kidney biology and blood pressure regulation converged with an unexpected finding involving snake venom to yield ACE inhibitors, one of our most effective hypertension medications

Understanding how the blood clots, together with a new cancer treatment and the first commercial use of recombinant technologies, resulted in rtPA, a clot-busting drug that can prevent death from heart attack or stroke

RESULTS?? 63% REDUCTION IN DEATHS FROM HEART DISEASE AND A 70% REDUCTION IN DEATHS DUE TO STROKE; MORE THAN 1

MILLION LIVES SAVED IN 2006 ALONE

Cardiovascular disease

60 70 9575

500

400

300

200

100

50 55 65 80 85 90 00

Death

s p

er

10

0,0

00

Year

~ 514,000 ActualDeaths in 2000

~ 1,329,000 Projected

Deaths in 2000

30-year Investment per

American

~$110.00 Total

Economic return of improved treatment & prevention

$2.6 TRILLION

HIV / AIDS Fundamental knowledge of how viruses replicate gave

scientists targets for therapy. Researchers looking for a new cancer drug hit one of those targets when they discovered a way to block replication, resulting in the development of AZT.

Increased understanding of how HIV operates at the cellular and molecular level identified more targets, and eventually led to the combination of drugs knows as the ‘triple cocktail.’

RESULTS?? AIDS HAS BEEN TRANSFORMED FROM AN ACUTE FATAL ILLNESS TO A CHRONIC CONDITION; THE PROPHYLACTIC

USE OF ANTI-VIRALS PREVENTED ALMOST 350,000 DEATHS WORLDWIDE IN 2005

Deaths from AIDS dropped nearly 70% between 1995 and 2000

HIV / AIDS

Survival rates for those infected with HIV has increased

by 10 years

Cancer

Basic research into the shape and characteristics of the estrogen receptor gave us tamoxifen, which can reduce breast cancer incidence among women at risk by over 45%.

The breakthrough finding that human papillomavirus (HPV) could cause cervical cancer has led to a new vaccine that NIH estimated could reduce cervical cancer incidence by as much as 90%.

While investigating the cellular machinery controlling cell growth, scientists developed bortezomib - now used to treat patients with multiple myeloma.

RESULTS?? FROM 1993-2002, CANCER DEATH RATES DROPPED 1.1% PER YEAR; MORE THAN 2/3 OF PEOPLE

DIAGNOSED WITH CANCER CAN EXPECT TO LIVE 5+ YEARS

Cancer

Millions

of

People

1971 1986 1990 2003

9

6

3

Increase in Cancer Survivors

30-year Investment per

American

~$260.00 Total

Infant mortality Studies on lung function led to the discovery of surfactant.

This protein-lipid mixture is crucial for the survival of premature infants, decreasing the number of infant deaths from respiratory distress from 15,000 per year to less than 1,000.

The use of anti-virals to prevent mother to child HIV transmission has reduced the rate from 25% to about 1% in the U.S.

Studies on a metabolite of progesterone, known as progesterone 17P, have led to the finding that injections of this compound can reduce pre-term deliveries by as much as 30%, a particularly important result for African American women.

RESULTS?? IN LESS THAN A CENTURY, INFANT MORTALITY IN THE U.S. HAS BEEN REDUCED BY 90%, TRANSLATING TO

ALMOST 500,000 BABIES SAVED PER YEAR

NIH-Funded Discoveries in West Virginia

A study conducted at WVU revealed that residents of mining communities are at an increased risk of developing chronic heart, lung and kidney diseases.

Research at Alderson-Broaddus College has yielded advances in the study of tumor inhibition in ovarian cancer.

A Davis & Elkins College research project revealed certain weed killers could damage the kidney.

The Bottom Line… People are living longer, healthier lives

because of NIH funded medical research What were once swiftly fatal illnesses have

become treatable or manageable conditions For those suffering from diseases that have

no current treatment or cure, medical research provides hope – which has a major impact on quality of life

The Challenge…

NIH funding is entirely dependent on Congressional support In recent years, Congressional support has diminished, and

the NIH budget is slowly eroding from lack of funding and inflation

Lack of understanding in Congress about the importance of medical research and the treatments and hope it provides

As the NIH budget falls, success rate also falls

Diminished investment in NIH = loss of talented researchers = missed opportunities

= delays in medical progress

West Virginia’s Congressmen Need to Advocate for NIH Funding

Nothing should surpass improving our health as a national priority

Opportunities for discoveries that translate to improved health for our citizens have never been greater

Every increase in the NIH budget means additional funding for research in the state and new jobs

We Need Your Help:Working Together for NIH

Contact Senators Byrd and Rockefeller, and your Congressional Representative Let them know that medical research is

important to you and what a bargain it is

Write a letter to the newspaper and talk to your friends Help educate policymakers and neighbors

about the important work NIH is doing

Nothing is more important than our health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) should

be an American priority

Want to know more??

Please visit http://opa.faseb.org

Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB)