Breakthroughs in Bioscience

From NIH-Funded Basic Research to Improved Health

New New HampshireHampshire

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 Dartmouth College received

more than $80 million in NIH awards for FY08; University of New Hampshire received more than $2.1 million

Research Enterprise Is Critical to New Hampshire’s Economy

The state’s biotechnology industry employed 3,884 workers in 2002

One of the largest biotech companies in the world, Lonza Biologics, with more than 500 employees, is based in Portsmouth, NH

New Hampshire receives more NIH funding on a per capita basis than the national average

Dartmouth College ranks in top 100 for total R&D expenditures

High tech jobs employ more than 35,000 workers in the state

NIH Funding Supports Many Programs at Dartmouth

The Center for Molecular, Cellular, and Translational Immunological Research at Dartmouth Medical School received nearly $12 million from NIH to promote multidisciplinary work in immunology/cancer Studies at the Lung Biology Center of Dartmouth focus on cystic fibrosis, one of the most common genetic diseases in the U.S., and research of environmental factors that contribute to lung cancer Federal grants to the Medical School increased 4% from FY04-FY05, while funding for grants increased 63% overall since 2001

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 researchNIH 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

400300

200

100

50 55 65 80 85 90 00

Dea

ths

per

100,

000

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

Milli

ons o

f Peo

ple

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 at Dartmouth

Researchers have shown that women with higher levels of an antibody called human mucin, or MUC1, are less likely to develop ovarian cancer. The findings may lead to a vaccine to prevent ovarian cancer

First gene for the enzyme involved in cholesterol storage cloned

Discovered that a specific genetic variation in ODC gene affects aspirin’s effectiveness in preventing colon cancer

Recently, researchers using Near Infrared Spectroscopy found areas in the brain that indicate bilingualism

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 fallsDiminished investment in NIH = loss of talented researchers = missed

opportunities = delays in medical progress

New Hampshire’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 Gregg and Shaheen 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)