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Cancer centers join forces in capital for more research dollars

On Sept. 17 The Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Thomas Jefferson University along with 125 other partnering organizations converged on Capitol Hill to speak with legislators about the importance of increased funding for medical research.

On Sept. 17 The Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Thomas Jefferson University along with 125 other partnering organizations converged on Capitol Hill to speak with legislators about the importance of increased funding for medical research.

The Rally for Medical Research Hill Day mobilized nearly 300 researchers, clinicians, patients, survivors and other advocates for meetings with more than 200 key House and Senate offices (including more than 70 member-level meetings) to discuss the importance of medical research, as well as protecting the NIH from continued budget cuts.

On this National Day of Action, I and a delegation of researchers and physicians  spent the day meeting with elected officials from the states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware asking them to provide robust, sustained, and predictable funding increases for the National Institutes of Health (NIH).  Our delegation included two young investigators, whose futures as scientists will most likely be impacted by the decreases in federal funding.

The message delivered throughout the Capitol was that the NIH is the greatest supporter of medical research in the world, with twenty-seven distinct Institutes and Centers, including the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and we can no longer continue to reduce funding for medical research.  Recent polls completed by two independent research firms showed that most Americans believe medical research should be a national priority.

Americans strongly believe, in fact, that without medical research we will not be able to find a cure for diseases like cancer, and that cutting funds will prohibits us from life-saving medical advances.  At the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, we will not stop fighting these battles whether it be in the laboratory or on Capitol Hill "Until Every Cancer is Cured."

Dr. Karen Knudsen is Director of the Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center in Philadelphia

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