Newswise — Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Representative Tom Cole (R-OK04) were presented with the American Society for Cell Biology’s (ASCB) Public Service Award on September 27 for their unwavering support of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, basic biomedical research, and biomedical scientists.
“Since Cole and Blunt became chairs of the House and Senate Subcommittee on Labor, Health & Human Services and Education Appropriations Subcommittee, respectively, they have overseen significant increases in funding for the NIH—from just over $30 billion in 2015 to just under $40 billion in the FY2019 NIH budget recently passed by Congress,” stated ASCB’s CEO Erika Shugart who, along with Public Policy Committee Chair Connie Lee, presented the members of Congress with the award on Capitol Hill yesterday. “The five-year period of Blunt and Cole has also seen a remarkable increase in the support among other members of the House and Senate. Now, when scientists come to Congress for meetings, they are met with strong support from their representatives.”
ASCB has awarded the Public Service Award since 1994, with the first award being presented to now retired Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), a decades-long champion of the NIH. Other awardees have included actor and activist Christopher Reeve, four other members of Congress, and several Nobel Laureates.
A video of the presentation to Blunt and Cole will be shown at the 2018 ASCB|EMBO Annual Meeting in San Diego just before the Keynote Address on December 8.
RSS