CONGRESSMAN ANDY HARRIS PRAISES NIH FOR STRATEGIC PLAN

WASHINGTON, DC: Congressman Andy Harris, M.D. (MD-01), the only physician member of Congress to have conducted research funded by the NIH, praised the testimony by National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins today announcing that they will be performing an NIH-wide strategic planning and portfolio analysis. Dr. Harris, through both House Appropriations bill language and the House Energy and Commerce 21st Century Cures Discussion draft, has been urging the NIH to take this action.

“Dr. Collins deserves credit for listening to the will of Congress and preparing a strategic plan. The NIH receives nearly thirty billion dollars a year, and yet it has had no NIH-wide strategic plan,” said Dr. Harris. “As we look for ways to fund more biomedical research, Congress needs to know the NIH is wisely spending the money it currently receives. I look forward to working with Dr. Collins and his team on developing a structure for the strategic plan and seeing the results of his work.”

Congressman Harris, a member of the Appropriations subcommittee that determines NIH funding, performed research into fetal cerebral blood flow while on the faculty at the Johns Hopkins Hospital.