AAI Announces 2022−2023 Public Policy Fellows
AAI is pleased to announce the newest class of Public Policy Fellows. These early career researchers will spend a year learning how to effectively advocate for funding and policies that impact the biomedical research enterprise. The program culminates in a Capitol Hill Day event next spring.
AAI Sends Letter to Congressional Leaders on Need for Supplemental Funding for COVID-19 Priorities
AAI Committee on Public Affairs Chair Peter Jensen, M.D., recently wrote to key congressional leaders, urging them “to expeditiously approve legislation that provides at least $15.6 billion in supplemental funding to address some of the most pressing challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.” The letter, sent on behalf of AAI, was prompted by reports that the Administration will soon run out of funding for key tools to combat COVID-19, including vaccines, monoclonal antibodies, and antiviral therapies, as well as for critically important research priorities, including studying who may need an additional booster shot and when. This funding would enable continued investment in these crucial areas, and would also allow the Administration to address important global health challenges, such as increasing vaccination rates around the world.
AAI Issues Statement on President Biden’s FY 2023 Budget Request for NIH
AAI Committee on Public Affairs Chair Peter E. Jensen, M.D., recently issued a statement on President Joe Biden’s fiscal year (FY) 2023 budget request for NIH. The statement expresses appreciation for the president's longtime support for NIH, concern about this year's insufficient funding request, and support for increased NIH and pandemic funding.
The president’s request would increase the regular NIH budget by just $275 million (0.6%) in FY 2023, reducing the agency’s purchasing power after adjusting for inflation. Separately, he requests a $4 billion funding increase for the newly-created Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) and proposes a comprehensive pandemic preparedness plan (to be paid for through mandatory funding that is not subject to the annual appropriations process). Dr. Jensen’s statement recommends an increase in the regular NIH budget of $4 billion for FY 2023, a ”substantial” funding increase for ARPA-H, and full funding of the president’s pandemic preparedness plan.
AAI Statement on COVID-19 Vaccines and Booster Shots
AAI President Gary A. Koretzky, M.D., Ph.D., issued the following statement on December 2, 2021.
The American Association of Immunologists (AAI)* urges all Americans to get fully vaccinated,** and once eligible, to receive a booster shot against COVID-19. Vaccination significantly reduces your chance of being hospitalized for, or dying from, COVID-19, and will help protect the lives and health of your family, friends, and community. As immunologists and other scientists work to understand the threat of new variants, including omicron, our existing vaccines remain our best – and an extraordinarily effective – tool against a disease that has already claimed the lives of more than 780,000 Americans and more than 5.2 million people globally.
* AAI (www.aai.org) is the nation’s largest professional association of research scientists and physicians who study the immune system.
** Currently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) considers people fully vaccinated “2 weeks after their second dose in a 2-dose series, such as the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or 2 weeks after a single-dose vaccine, such as Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine.”
Statement by AAI President Gary Koretzky on Dr. Collins’ Decision to Step Down as NIH Director
AAI President Gary Koretzky, M.D., Ph.D., recently issued a statement in response to the news that Francis Collins, M.D., Ph.D., will step down as NIH Director at the end of the year. In the statement, Dr. Koretzky thanks Dr. Collins, on behalf of AAI, for his “12 years of exemplary leadership as NIH Director” and “wish[es] him the very best as he begins the next chapter of his career.”