NIH Director Francis Collins and Members of Congress to Speak in Advance of Rally for Medical Research Virtual Hill Day

PHILADELPHIA – Nearly 500 participants from almost every state will participate in this year’s all-virtual Rally for Medical Research Hill Day on September 17. The record attendance marks this event as the largest and most inclusive Hill Day since the inaugural Rally for Medical Research in 2013. The annual Rally for Medical Research Hill Day brings together health care organizations, providers, researchers, clinicians, patients, caregivers, and survivors to advocate for robust, sustained, and predictable annual funding increases for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This year, the event is being held virtually due to COVID-19.

Virtual Reception to Celebrate Medical Research

Wednesday, September 16, 2020
5:30 – 6:45 pm ET

A virtual reception for participants and supporters will be held the evening before the Hill Day. Members of the media are invited to attend.

Margaret Foti, PhD, MD (hc), chief executive officer of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), will provide opening remarks. Antoni Ribas, MD, PhD, FAACR, President of the AACR, will introduce a selection of speakers at the reception.

Other confirmed speakers include NIH Director Francis S. Collins, MD, PhD, and 20 members of Congress, including the following appropriations leaders:

• U.S. Representative Nita Lowey (D-New York)

• U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (R-Missouri)

• U.S. Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-Connecticut)

• U.S. Representative Tom Cole (R-Oklahoma)

To register for the virtual reception, please contact Kathleen Venango at [email protected] or Matthew Burns at [email protected]. To schedule interviews with speakers or Rally participants, please contact Julia Gunther at [email protected].

About the Rally for Medical Research Hill Day

The Rally for Medical Research was launched in April 2013 to bring together the entire medical research community to ask Congress to make funding for the NIH a national priority. Through the annual Hill Day, the Rally for Medical Research continues to raise awareness about the critical need for an increased investment in the NIH to improve health, spur progress, inspire hope, and save more lives.

The NIH received a $2.6 billion or 7 percent funding increase for fiscal year 2020. This investment is enabling researchers at universities and research institutions in all 50 states to pursue emerging scientific opportunities to address the nation’s most pressing health needs, including tackling the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to bringing hope and improving the quality of life for patients, the ongoing success of the medical research enterprise also drives local and national economic activity, strengthens U.S. competitiveness in an increasingly innovation-based global marketplace, and inspires future generations of scientists to commit to careers in research. As our nation confronts the COVID-19 pandemic, continued federal support for biomedical research is as important as ever if we wish to make progress against the novel coronavirus as well as hundreds of other diseases. For the benefit of all those who continue to await better therapies and even cures, this momentum must continue.