Download Talking Points - Endocrine Society

NIH Funding Talking Points

The Endocrine Society recommends at least $35 billion for the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
in FY 2017 to make up for years of flat and under-funding and to maintain the US status as a
leading research engine.

We are calling on Congress to pass a L-HHS appropriations bill, end sequestration, and remove
austere caps on federal spending for discretionary programs.

Endocrine Society members feel the effects of NIH’s history of flat funding and budget cuts.
Grants have been reduced or unfunded, and left unchecked; the US will lose at least two
generations of scientists in the pipeline.

Federal funding of biomedical research has led to major accomplishments in endocrinology such
as understanding:
o how the hormone insulin works, resulting in treatments for diabetes.
o the effects of hormones such as aldosterone on the heart, leading to new treatments for
heart failure.
o thyroid hormones, resulting in the development of new, better, and safer therapies for
patients with thyroid disorders.
o the neuroendocrine basis of obesity, resulting in the discovery of new hormones that
regulate energy balance and hunger, such as leptin.
o hormone-responsive cancers, such as estrogen-sensitive breast cancer, resulting in
improved treatment for certain cancers; tamoxifen, for example, has been used for over
30 years to treat hormone-receptor positive breast cancer by selectively blocking
estrogen receptors.

NIH-funded endocrine scientists continue to make remarkable contributions in areas of critical
national interest, including diabetes, obesity, the microbiome, cancer, bone health, and fertility.
However, progress depends on adequate federal support.

The opportunities to cure many diseases and conditions will decrease in the years ahead as the
federal government’s investment in biomedical research declines due to inflation and
inadequate funding levels.

NIH is the leading and sometimes only source of funds for certain types of clinical and
translational research that is desperately needed, but not funded in the private sector or at
other government agencies.