Dear Member of Congress:
As the 119th Congress begins, over 300 undersigned members of the Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research wish to welcome you. We invite you and your staff to consider this coalition as a valuable resource regarding our nation’s premier medical research agency the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and its impact on improving the health of patients across the nation. The Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research, founded in 1982, is a coalition of patient and voluntary health groups, medical and scientific societies, academic and research organizations, and industry, dedicated to enhancing the federal investment in biomedical, behavioral, social, and population-based research supported by NIH.
Nearly every medication, diagnostic, and other intervention in practice today has its origins in NIH-funded research. Today, NIH investment takes place in every state and in nearly every congressional district. NIH seeks to drive medical breakthroughs that will benefit patients nationwide, advance potential treatments and preventive strategies for cancer and Alzheimer’s, improve maternal health, and develop countermeasures for persistent or emerging health threats. In 2024 alone, NIH research supported the development of a blood test that identified Alzheimer’s disease correctly in older adults with nearly 90 percent accuracy. Such tests assist in speedier diagnoses and improve access to earlier treatments – saving lives. NIH-supported researchers developed a brain-computer interface that allowed a man to communicate after his ability to speak was impaired by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). NIH-supported research also developed 3D maps of cancer which have provided critical information on how tumors develop, spread, and respond to treatments.
Click here for the full Neurosurgery Joins Ad Hoc Group in Welcoming the 119th Congress.
