A Post-Oscars “Spotlight” on Neonatal Lupus for Rare Disease Day

by Amanda Zink, J.D., M.A. and Jill P. Buyon, M.D. As national funding decreased in recent decades, medical research suffered. Progress toward uncovering beneficial preventative and therapeutic treatments slowed for thousands of devastating conditions, affecting the health, happiness, and life expectancy of millions of Americans. Young scientists trying to enter the biomedical research arena last year faced the worst funding climate in half a century, with NIH spending down 22% since 2003. December of 2015 brought a glimmer of hope, however, when Congress passed a federal spending bill that included the biggest increase in NIH funding in 12 years, an additional $2 billion that NIH Director Francis Collins says came at “just the right time to take advantage of remarkable opportunities to improve human health, powered by dramatic advances in scientific knowledge and technological innovation.” Today might be considered “rare” because it is a Leap Day.…
Source: blog.bioethics.net - Category: Medical Ethics Authors: Tags: Clinical Trials & Studies Featured Posts Institutions, Centers, Funding leap year neonatal lupus orphan diseases PATCH trial Rare Disease Day Source Type: blogs