Breakthroughs in Bioscience

Breakthroughs in Bioscience From NIH-Funded Basic Research to Improved Health Alaska

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

Research Enterprise Is Critical to Alaska Economy • The state of Alaska received more than $9.1 million in NIH awards for FY2011 • Construction of the Univ. of Alaska-Fairbanks Biosciences facility will generate $174 million in direct economic output in Alaska • University of Alaska created more than 6,700 jobs in 2002 and is the single largest employer in the state after federal employment • The university also conducts 52% of all R&D in the state; for every dollar allocated for research, $6.30 in revenue is generated from other sources

NIH Grants Support Many Programs in Alaska • NIH awarded more than $8.7 million to University of Alaska to strengthen infrastructure, increase capacity for biomedical research, support new faculty members, and recruit students into biomedical research in FY2011 • The university is also developing a multidisciplinary Center for Alaska Native Health Research under a COBRE grant • The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, which provides Native health services, received more than $600 thousand from NIH in 2007 • The Southcentral Foundation in Anchorage, funded by NHGRI and NIH’s Center on Minority Health, employs more than 700 Alaska natives to develop methods to understand family health history and promote a healthy lifestyle

NIH: Saving Lives Through Science • Current annual budget (FY2012) of around $30.6B • Greater than 80% distributed throughout the country • Almost 50,000 grants • More than 325,000 scientists at over 3,000 research sites • How much money is being spent in your local area? • http://report.nih.gov/award/organizations.cfm • Portfolio of basic, translational, and clinical research NIH has been involved in nearly all the major medical & health related discoveries of the past fifty years

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

500 ~ 1,329,000 Projected Deaths in 2000 400 300 Deaths per 100,000 200 ~ 514,000 Actual Deaths in 2000 100 50 55 65 75 80 85 90 95 00 Year Cardiovascular disease 60 70 Economic return of improved treatment & prevention $2.6 TRILLION 30-year Investment per American ~$110.00 Total

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 Increase in Cancer Survivors 9 6 Millions of People 3 1971 1986 1990 2003 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 Funding Supports Potential Findings in AK • Univ. Alaska-Fairbanks is a partner in a $18.5 million NIAID study of influenza viruses with pandemic potential; more than 450 species of migratory birds come to Alaska in the spring/summer, presenting the opportunity to study bird flu virus transmission • A research project at the Center for Alaska Native Health Research aims to identify genes that are associated with body weight/obesity, and focus on the interaction of genetic risk factors, diet, and behavior

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

Alaska’s Congressmen Need to Advocate for NIH Funding • Cancer is the leading cause of death among Alaska Native women • Alaskan natives experienced 4.3% annual increases in cancer incidence rates in the 1990s compared with just 0.3% increases among white Americans • 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 Begich and Murkowski, and Representative Young • 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)

Breakthroughs in Bioscience