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!!!Breaking News!!! January 5, 2010 --
We are
excited to announce that
Conquer Chiari has achieved a major milestone in our fight against Chiari.
Specifically, through a
lobbying effort, we were successful in getting the US Congress to focus on Chiari research in the recently approved Labor,
Health, and Education Appropriations bill (H3293). The language, which
appears in the House Report accompanying the bill (HR 111-220), directs the NIH as follows:
"Chiari
- The Committee recognizes that a research conference titled ‘‘Chiari
Malformation: State of the Research and New Directions’’
was convened in November
2008 to identify the current state of knowledge and to identify key areas of
research. The Committee encourages aggressive measures toward implementing
these recommendations, including but not limited to: using advanced
engineering and imaging analysis to develop an objective diagnostic test for
symptomatic Chiari, understanding the genetic basis of Chiari, and
increasing focus on pediatric patients including symptoms, optimal
treatments, and quality of life issues. The Committee requests NINDS to
submit a report to the Committees on Appropriations of the House of
Representatives and the Senate by
April 30, 2010 detailing its progress."
President Obama signed
the bill into law just before the Holiday break.
The legislative language
is an extension of the work Conquer Chiari did in organizing and getting NIH
funding for the research conference held in Nov., 2008.
Conquer Chiari
believes
this will translate into significant
funding of Chiari research by the NIH.
You can see the actual
House Report 111-220 here:
http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_reports&docid=f:hr220.111.pdf
The Chiari language is on Page 120.
-- Rick Labuda |