Congressional Approval and President Obama's Signing of the 21st Century Cures Act
Society for Neuroscience (SfN) President Eric J. Nestler, MD, PhD, released this statement following the 21st Century Cures Act being signed into law by President Barack Obama. SfN is the world’s largest organization dedicated to advancing the understanding of the brain and nervous system.
“On behalf of the Society for Neuroscience, we offer our sincere gratitude to Congress and President Obama for the passage of the 21st Century Cures Act. The bill (H.R. 32) passed with overwhelming bipartisan support, showcasing the widespread awareness of the need for more research funding.
“Importantly, the bill recognizes the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative by providing $1.5 billion to the initiative over 10 years as part of a larger investment in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) that also includes the Cancer Moonshot Initiative and the Precision Medicine Initiative. The BRAIN Initiative, which provides focused funding to create an extraordinary new generation of tools and technologies for neuroscience, will amplify the larger federal investment in brain research and support the overall NIH ‘ecosystem’ that helps drive innovation, discovery and improved health. That is why it is essential that the funding included in the 21st Century Cures Act come in addition to continued strong and robust NIH and National Science Foundation (NSF) appropriations in FY17 and beyond.
“In 2017 and the years ahead, SfN will continue its long standing partnership with NIH and NSF to ensure that this investment is leveraged to accelerate research into new treatments for brain diseases.”
The Society for Neuroscience (SfN) is an organization of 37,000 basic scientists and clinicians who study the brain and nervous system. Learn more about SfN advocacy priorities surrounding research funding and about brain science at BrainFacts.org.
