Dr. Bertagnolli Testifies Before House LHHS Appropriations Subcommittee

Monica Bertagnolli, MD, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) director, testified before the U.S. House Committee on Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee Nov. 19. Dr. Bertagnolli fielded questions on clinical trial participation, including access and diversity in clinical trials, women’s health research, the efforts made to avoidance of duplication of funding between NIH and other agencies, and concerns of incentives for early career researchers.

This hearing was held as the federal government is currently functioning under a continuing resolution, through Dec. 20. The American College of Radiology® (ACR®) joined a sign on letter, led by the Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research, urging appropriators to finalize the fiscal year (FY) 2025 Labor-HHS spending bill by the end of the calendar year with a robust investment in the NIH. Specifically, the letter urges that Congress provide no less than the Senate Appropriations Committee-approved level of $48.9 billion for NIH, in addition to funding for the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H). The letter noted that “Underinvesting in NIH’s annual base budget is to the detriment of patients today and tomorrow, undermines the future medical research workforce, and threatens to weaken U.S. competitiveness with global adversaries.”

For more information, contact Katie Grady, ACR Government Affairs Director.