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Capitol Hill Briefing Calls for More MS Research Funding S
peaking to a U.S. Congressional assembly, MS activist Karen Knable Jackson said, “I sit before you to put a face to primary progressive MS, but also to show that what is decided here on Capitol Hill has a direct effect on real people.” Jackson was part of a National Multiple Sclerosis Society delegation that traveled to Washington, D.C. this fall for a briefing on progressive MS. Speakers at the Capitol Hill briefing were National MS Society President and CEO Cyndi Zagieboylo; the Society’s Chief Research Officer Tim Coetzee, Ph.D.; Executive Vice President of Advocacy Bari Talente; Peter Calabresi, M.D., Professor of Neurology and Director of the Johns Hopkins Multiple Sclerosis Center; and Jackson, an MS activist and person living with primary progressive MS. Officials from more than 40 bipartisan House and Senate offices attended the meeting. Speakers educated the Congressional audience about progress that has been made in the MS mission
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MSConnection • WINTER 2014
in the past 20 years. Presenters credited these advances largely to medical research funding provided by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National MS Society. Annually, the NIH funds about $115 million in MS research, while the Society – independently or in partnership with the NIH – funded $43.2 million in research in 2012. Although progress is noteworthy, speakers also highlighted the significant void that exists: that there are currently no treatments available for persons living with progressive MS. Dr. Calabresi stated that “existing disease-modifying therapies are effective only for some people” and there are “no approved therapies for progressive MS.” Society representatives repeatedly emphasized the organization’s commitment to increase its investment in MS research. This commitment is part of the Society’s campaign to stop disease progression, restore function and end MS forever. The Society called on lawmakers to increase funding for the NIH.