== National Academy of Sciences report links federal funding to research
and graduate education trends
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AAMC prepares for 112th Annual Meeting
The 112th AAMC Annual Meeting, "Facing the Future," will this year take
place Nov. 2-7 in Washington, D.C. This year's meeting marks the AAMC's
125th anniversary, which will be celebrated in a number of ways during the
gathering. Noted historian and Pulitzer Prize-winner Doris Kearns Goodwin
will deliver the keynote address. A "Research Roundtable" at the meeting
will feature a panel of four Nobel Laureates: David Baltimore, Ph.D., J.
Michael Bishop, M.D., Ferid Murad, M.D., Ph.D., and Torsten N. Wiesel, M.D.
The panel will be moderated by Donald Kennedy, Ph.D., editor-in-chief of
Science magazine. Preliminary programs are in the mail, and program,
registration, and hotel information is available on the Web at
http://www.aamc.org/annualmeeting.
Information: Heather Brinton or Betty Beam, AAMC Section for Professional
Education Programs, annmeet@aamc.org.
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AAMC joins others in filing court brief to protect Medicaid beneficiaries
The AAMC joined several other associations on June 25 in submitting an
amicus - friend of the court - brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
Sixth Circuit in the case "Westside Mothers v. Haveman." The brief urges
the reversal of a lower court's decision that found that the state of
Michigan was immune from a lawsuit that attempted to force changes in the
state's Medicaid program. If the lower court's decision stands, it may have
an adverse impact on both beneficiaries of health care services and their
providers, particularly if it is adopted by courts in other parts of the
country. Beneficiaries may no longer be assured of receiving the benefits
to which they are entitled and providers - on whom Medicaid is dependent
for the delivery of services - would be unable to enforce the rights on
which their willingness to participate depends. The brief argues that if
states cannot be challenged in federal court, the only remedies available
to such beneficiaries and providers are the actions of federal agencies or
state administrative remedies, neither of which is adequate.
Information: Ivy Baer, AAMC Division of Health Care Affairs, 202.828.0490,
ibaer@aamc.org.
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President Bush announces Medicare prescription drug program
President Bush has announced a new Medicare-endorsed prescription drug
discount card program designed to immediately help beneficiaries lower
their out-of-pocket drug costs. According to the Bush administration,
enrollment in the new Medicare Rx Discount Card Program will begin as early
as Nov. 1.
Discount cards are expected to save Medicare beneficiaries 10 percent to 25
percent on prescription drug prices. Beneficiaries will be given the
opportunity to choose among existing prescription drug discount card
organizations and select the card that best fits their needs.
Information: Go to http://www.hhs.gov/news/press/2001pres/20010712.html, or
call the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 202.690.6145.
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National Academy of Sciences report links federal funding to research and
graduate education trends
The National Academy of Sciences' Board on Science, Technology, and
Economic Policy this week released the report "Trends in Federal Support of
Research and Graduate Education." The report urges policy-makers to
regularly evaluate the federal research portfolio to determine when
spending adjustments may be needed to close funding gaps for various
research fields. Noting that federal dollars support 27 percent of
America's total research expenditures and nearly half of our nation's
spending on basic research, the report states that budget cuts can have a
substantial impact in a given field when nonfederal sources do not make up
for government shortfalls.
The report's committee also found that shifts in research spending are
among the factors that affect the numbers of students seeking advanced
degrees in particular areas. In fields now receiving less federal support
compared to 1993, both graduate school enrollment and the number of
students who obtained doctorates have generally declined. The committee
goes on to recommend that the federal government aim to invest across the
full range of scientific endeavors in today's research enterprise, in which
interdisciplinary collaboration is key to advances in fields such as
genomics and bioinformatics.
Information: Go to
http://www4.nationalacademies.org/news.nsf/isbn/0309075920?OpenDocument, or
contact Vanee Vines, media relations officer, or Chris Dobbins, media
relations assistant, The National Academies, 202.334.2138, news@nas.edu.
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President Bush to nominate new SAMSA administrator
President Bush has announced his intention to nominate Charles Curie as
administrator of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration (SAMSA). Curie is currently the deputy secretary for mental
health and substance abuse services at the Pennsylvania Department of
Public Welfare. From 1990-1995, he was the director of risk management
services for Henry S. Lehr Inc., and from 1988-1990 he served as president
and CEO of the Helen H. Stevens Community Mental Health Center in Carlisle,
Pa. Curie is a graduate of Huntington College and received a master's
degree from the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration.
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Tommy Thompson names physician to head HHS's bioterrorism initiative
HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson has announced that Scott Lillibridge, M.D.,
has been chosen to lead HHS's coordinated bioterrorism initiative. Dr.
Lillibridge has been with the Centers for Disease Control and revention
(CDC) since 1990, and has led that organization's bioterrorism preparedness
and response program since 1998. Prior to joining the CDC, he served in the
Indian Health Service as chief resident while completing his training at
the Baylor College of Medicine. He is a graduate of East Tennessee State
University and the School of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University
of the Health Sciences.
In his new position, Dr. Lillibridge will coordinate anti-bioterrorism
efforts across the HHS and will report directly to Thompson. A captain in
the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, Dr. Lillibridge will
also support the surgeon general's efforts to revitalize the corps and its
readiness force.
Information: HHS Press Office, 202.690.6343.
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Surgeon general to deliver lecture on health disparities
U.S. Surgeon General David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D., will deliver the Seventh
Annual John W. Diggs Lecture on "The National Strategic Plan for the
Elimination of Health Disparities" on July 23 at 11:30 a.m. at the NIH
Clinical Center in Bethesda, Md. John Diggs, M.D., was the vice president
for research at the AAMC until his death in 1995. Before joining the AAMC,
Dr. Diggs was the NIH deputy director for extramural research.
The lecture is sponsored by the Speakers Bureau of the NIH Black Scientists
Association in collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and
Infectious Diseases' Minority Scientists Advisory Committee and Office of
Special Populations and Research Training, the National Institute of
Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the National Institute of Diabetes and
Digestive and Kidney Diseases, the NIH Office of Equal Opportunity, the
Office of Research on Women's Health, and the National Center on Minority
Health and Health Disparities.
Information: The lecture is open to the public and will be videocast on the
Web at http://videocast.nih.gov.
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Hot headlines
Merging Western, Eastern Medicine
http://www.charlotte.com/observer/health/docs/integrative0709.htm,
Charlotte Observer, 7/9/01
Hospitals, Patients Run Short of Key Drugs: Production Cuts, Tight
Inventories Can Hit Fast
http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20010711/3471647s.htm, USA Today, 7/11/01
UCSF Suspends Research on Embryonic Stem Cells
http://www0.mercurycenter.com/front/docs1/stemrsk0712.htm, San Jose Mercury
News, 7/11/01
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On the move
Lutz Birnbaumer, Ph.D., chair of the University of California, Los Angeles,
School of Medicine's Department of Molecular, Cell, and Developmental
Biology, and professor of anesthesiology and biological chemistry, has been
named scientific director of the National Institute of Environmental Health
Sciences, a division of the NIH that studies how substances in the
environment cause or trigger disease.
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