News from NAEVR and AEVR

NAEVR and AEVR Boards Elect Three New Directors, Recognizes Retiring Directors

   The Board of Directors of each the National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research (NAEVR) and the Alliance for Eye and Vision Research (AEVR) elected three new Directors to serve in the class of 2020-2023:

• Judy Kim, MD, Professor of Ophthalmology, Vitreoretinal Diseases and Surgery, and Director, Teleophthalmology and Research (Medical College of Wisconsin)
• Kelly K. Nichols, OD, MPH, PhD, Dean and Professor, School of Optometry (University of Alabama at Birmingham)
• S. Grace Prakalapakorn, MD, MPH, Associate Professor of Ophthalmology and Pediatrics (Duke University)

NAEVR/AEVR Boards President Paul Lee, MD, JD (Kellogg Eye Center/University of Michigan Medical School) also recognized four term-limited Directors participating in their last meeting, which included Steven Fliesler, PhD (SUNY Buffalo/VA Medical Center Buffalo); Joan Miller, MD (Harvard Medical School); Thomas Yorio, PhD (University of North Texas Health Science Center); and Karla Zadnik, OD, PhD (Ohio State University College of Optometry).

Dr. Lee stated, “The Boards of each NAEVR and AEVR thank Dr. Fliesler, Dr. Miller, Dr. Yorio, and Dr. Zadnik for their dedicated service and commitment to the Alliances. Each has a record of significant individual accomplishments in their service to the Alliances, and have played vital roles as Directors during a time of great success in NAEVR advocacy for vision research funding increases and AEVR education about the value of vision research.”  

The National Alliance for Eye and Vision Research (NAEVR) is a 501(c)4 non-profit advocacy coalition comprised of 50 professional, consumer, and industry organizations involved in eye and vision research. Visit the Web site at www.eyeresearch.org. 

The Alliance for Eye and Vision Research (AEVR), a 501(c)3 non-profit foundation, conducts sustained educational efforts, such as its Congressionally recognized Decade of Vision 2010-2020 Initiative about the value of federally funded vision research. Visit the Web site at www.eyeresearch.org.

 

House Passes The Heroes Act with $4.75 B in NIH Funding With At Least $3 B in Grantee Relief, But Senate Action Unlikely

On May 15, the House approved the Health and Economic Recovery Omnibus Emergency Solutions Act, also known as The Heroes Act (H.R. 6800), a $3 trillion package to respond to the COVID-19 crisis. It provides $4.745 billion to NIH to expand COVID-19 related research on the NIH campus and at academic institutions across the country. Within the $4.021 billion provided through September 2024 to the Office of the NIH Director to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus, domestically and internationally, NIH must spend “not less than $3 billion of the amount…for offsetting the costs related to reductions in lab productivity resulting from the coronavirus pandemic or public health measures related to the coronavirus pandemic.” 

The House was being responsive to research community requests (including NAEVR) and its champions for relief for NIH grantees. Although Congress has passed three supplemental packages that included COVID-19 vaccine development and related surveillance activities at NIH, they did not address research issues that scientific agency grantees face, including supplements to support ramp-down/ramp-up/lab maintenance costs, support for core research facilities, and funding for graduate students/postdoctoral fellowships.

Unfortunately, H. R. 6800 is not likely to pass the Senate as-is, since there was no bipartisan engagement during the drafting and negotiation of the House Democrats' bill. It was intended to prompt Senate Republicans to respond with their own package, which Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) wants to put on the back-burner until he and his colleagues can evaluate the spending from earlier legislation. Senator McConnell told reporters he doesn’t yet feel the “urgency” to spend more money after Congress has delivered nearly $3 trillion in aid already, and that the Senate may consider more “targeted” legislation where needed. This week, the Senate is expected to consider a handful of lifetime judicial appointments and then head home for the Memorial Day recess. But H.R. 6800 has set a “marker” for future bipartisan legislation. 

To read a summary story about H.R. 6800, click into the following link: https://www.eyeresearch.org/legislative-update/house-passes-the-heroes-act-with-475-b-in-nih-funding.

 

NAEVR Submits Testimony to Senate re: FY2021 NIH/NEI Funding, Recognizes Impact of COVID-19

NAEVR submitted written testimony to the Senate Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education (LHHS) Appropriations Subcommittee regarding Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 NIH and NEI funding. As in the companion House testimony submitted March 20, NAEVR requested NIH funding at $44.7 billion and NEI funding at $850 million, but it also acknowledged the impact of COVID-19 and requested that NIH be exempt from the FY2021 discretionary spending caps. NAEVR also recognized that the extensive use of electronic devices for work and school presents NEI a unique set of challenges regarding vision health, including increased rates of myopia, dry eye, and eye strain.

To read a press release linked to the testimony, click here.