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For Release: April 1, 2013
Contact: Derik Hertel, 603-650-1211 or derik.hertel@dartmouth.edu

National Day of Action to Protest Budget Cuts to Medical Research

Hanover, N.H.—Researchers at academic medical centers across the nation--including the Dartmouth Geisel School of Medicine--could see a significant reduction in federal research funding awards and a slow down in discoveries that benefit patients as a result of sequestration.

A recent statement from National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis S. Collins, states that NIH funding is being cut by 5.1 percent in each of its 27 institutes and that research grant payments to scientists at hospitals and universities have already been reduced.

ACTION PLAN

For more details about this event, or to participate in the Rally for Medical Research without traveling to Washington, D.C., visit: rallyformedicalresearch.org.

Join the conversation: Tweet #RallyMedRes to send a message to policymakers.

Residents of Vermont and New Hampshire can use Dartmouth-Hitchcock's Health Care Advocacy webpage to reach out to their Senators and members of Congress.

To monitor health care policy issues affecting your community, visit: Dartmouth-Hitchcock's Health Care Advocacy page.

In response, advocates for making federal research funding a national priority are convening in Washington, D.C., Monday, April 8, as part of the Rally for Medical Research. More than 80 nationally prominent organ­izations, such as the American Heart Association, American Diabetes Association, Ovarian Cancer National Alliance and St. Jude Children's Research Hospital are joining this call to action to raise awareness about the need for sustained investment in the National Institutes of Health.

Federal funding for medical research supports nearly every advance made against disease. Today, NIH research funding at the Geisel School of Medicine is more than $85 million, which accounts for 86 percent of Dartmouth's total NIH funded research activity.

According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, federally funded research conducted by medical schools and teaching hospitals has helped drive innovation that has dramatically improved health resulting in significantly lower death rates for stroke, heart disease and cancer.

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