Medical school joins in thanking taxpayers
Stimulus funds for medical research: $4 million and counting
University of Hawaiʻi at MānoaContact:
Posted: Oct 21, 2009
JABSOM Masters in Science student Brittany Sato in Dr. Abby Collier's lab at the UH medical school.
The University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa’s John A. Burns School of Medicine (JABSOM) joined the nation’s medical schools and teaching hospitals today in thanking the Obama administration, Congress, and American taxpayers for the medical research funding included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
The “economic stimulus” funding to the UH medical school includes $4,022,919 awarded as of October 5 to researchers in eight different JABSOM departments for studies which will improve health care in our state.
Among them are projects to overcome obesity disparities in Hawai‘i, to study the effects of chemotherapy on the brains of children with leukemia and to fund programs that reach out to middle and high school students to inspire them to consider careers in needed health care professions.
“We are proud our researchers are working quickly to secure funds for worthy projects in Hawai‘i under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act,” said JABSOM Dean Jerris Hedges, MD. “We are grateful to Hawai‘i’s Congressional delegation for keeping our state’s health needs in the forefront of its important efforts in Washington, and to our state leaders and lawmakers for their critical support.”
Dr. Hedges noted that other stimulus proposals from JABSOM researchers are awaiting award notices.
Today in Washington, health leaders declared October 21 “National Medical Research Day”, and urged approval of significant, annual budget increases for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to sustain the momentum created by these funds.
“The nation’s medical research community is extremely grateful for this unprecedented infusion of funds for NIH research, which will not only create jobs, but will, over time, improve and even save lives,” said Edward D. Miller, MD, dean and CEO of Johns Hopkins Medicine.
For more information on specific projects in Hawai‘i or to speak to the researchers involved, contact Tina Shelton, JABSOM Communications Director, at 692-0897.