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Funding For Research
Helps All
By
Tom Quirk |
 Scituate
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Medical research
has greatly advanced human health. An American born in
1900 had an estimated life span of 49 years; today it is 77
years. Medical research and discoveries like insulin,
advanced surgical techniques, the virtual elimination of
some diseases and better treatments for others, are largely
responsible for this improvement.
During World War II the government encouraged scientists to
fight diseases threatening our armed forces and this
continued into peacetime, with the National Institutes of
Health and the National Science Foundation.
Academic-industry relationships were encouraged through
patent policy and governmental funding of commercial and
university interests. Ninety percent of the life-science
companies have financial relationships with academia.
Medical research reports and product promotion were mainly
in physician’s journals; the patient’s knowledge limited to
the scribbled prescription. It is now available in the
news media, advertising and the Internet. While
physicians recognize risk in overselling, oversimplifying
and the focus on more common diseases, a better informed
medicalconsumer is an overall plus.
In the U.S. 10 to 15 million people may have unruptured
brain aneurysms and of the 30,000 that hemorrhage, 15,000
will die. Many of the survivors will have substantial
deficits and some may need institutionalization.
Considering the average family constituency, those adversely
impacted by brain aneurysm events are a sizeable
demographic.
Neurological research requires an idea, money, space and
mentoring. A practicing neurosurgeon’s priorities are
patient care, administration, family, teaching and research.
Given the everyday time constraints, something has to give;
too often it is research.
The largest public funding source of scientific research is
the National Institutes of Health, which has no category for
“technical or surgical innovations,” the classification of
most neurosurgical research; leaving it to the private
sector. Industry provides financial support for technical
and surgical innovations and their investment return is the
ability to advance the future of neurosurgery and to achieve
growth in their neurological area of interest.
Corporate and philanthropic organizations like the American
Association of Neurological Surgeons (AANS) and the Congress
of Neurological Surgeons (CNS) provide substantial grant
support to neurosurgical research. They rely on the active
financial support of organizations dedicated to supporting
brain aneurysm awareness, education, research and
survivor-family caregiver support. Two such organizations
are the Brain Aneurysm research Trust (BAResearchTrust@aol.com)
and the Brain Aneurysm Foundation (office@bafound.org), who
can provide additional information.
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About The
Author
For more information you may contact Tom Quirk at (781)
545-2300, extension 628 or via email at tfquirk@aol.com. For
more detailed information about brain aneurysms, please
visit the Brain Aneurysm Foundation’s web site at
www.bafound.org.
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