Page images
PDF
EPUB

Woven together, all of NCRR's programs, both intramural and extramural, strengthen and enhance the environment in which research advancements take place, and help to carry out the mission of the NIH and its components, by helping to accelerate the progress of biomedical research and helping to contain research costs for NIH as a whole.

The total FY 1992 budget request for the National Center for Research Resources is $320,975,000. I will be happy to answer any questions you may

have.

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF DR. ROBERT A. WHITNEY

Birthdate: July 27, 1935 Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Education: D.V.M., Oklahoma State University College of Veterinary
Medicine, 1959; M.S. (Pharmacology), The Ohio State University,
Graduate School, 1965; Resident in Laboratory Animal Medicine,
The Ohio State University College of Medicine, 1965.

Professional History: 1990 to present, Director, National Center
for Research Resources, NIH; 1988 to 1990, Acting Director, Division
of Research Resources, NIH; 1987 to present, Director, Office of
Animal Care and Use, NIH; 1985 to 1990, Director, Division of
Research Services (DRS), NIH; 1984 to 1989, Chief Veterinary Officer,
U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS); 1984 to present, Chairman,
U.S. Government Interagency Research Animal Committee (IRAC);
1984-1985, Acting Director, Division of Research Services (DRS),
NIH; 1972-1985, Chief, Veterinary Resources Program, DRS, NIH;

Uniformed Service: 1971 to present, U.S. Public Health Service,
Assistant Surgeon General (Rear Admiral, 07); 1959-1971, United
States Army (Lieutenant Colonel, 05).

Societies and Associations: American Association for Laboratory
Animal Science; American Association of Laboratory Animal
Practitioners; American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine;
American Society of Primatologists; American Veterinary Medical
Association; Commissioned Officers Association, USPHS; District
of Columbia Veterinary Medical Association; National Capital Area
Branch, American Association for Laboratory Animal Science; The
Scientific Research Society of America; Association of Military
Surgeons of the United States.

Horors and Awards: USPHS Distinguished Service Medal; USPHS Surgeon
General's Exemplary Service Medal; USPHS Meritorious Service Medal;
USPHS Commendation Medal; Department of Army Legion of Merit;
Department of Army Meritorious Service Medal; Department of Army
Commendation Medal; NIH Director's Award; Ohio State University
College of Veterinary Medicine, Distinguished Alumnus Award;
Oklahoma State University College of Veterinary Medicine,
Distinguished Graduate Recognition Award; The Charles River Prize;
Alpha Zeta; Blue Key; included in 1973 Edition, American Men and Women
of Science; Diplomate, American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine.

Publications: Author of one book and over 40 scientific papers.

BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH SUPPORT GRANTS

Senator HARKIN. Thank you very much, Dr. Whitney.

Dr. Whitney, in fiscal year 1989, over $55 million was made available for biomedical research support grants. This year in 1991, only $22.2 million was made available, and I see your fiscal year 1992 request for this program is zero. I understand it has been a popular program which, on a formula basis, provides funding to institutions which have three or more NIH grants.

Your budget also proposes to cut the shared instrumentation grant program from $32.5 million in 1991 to $8.758 million, or a cut of almost $24 million.

These are two programs that have been somewhat popular, and I am wondering what the rationale is for cutting these programs. Dr. WHITNEY. I believe that, within the constraints of the 1992 budget, these simply had a lower priority than the research project grants.

Senator HARKIN. Tell me about the biomedical research support grants. What are those?

FLEXIBLE FUNDS

Dr. WHITNEY. Those are flexible funds that are, as you mentioned earlier, given to institutions that have some minimal amount of NIH funding. This is a program in which the institution has the flexibility of using the funds for a number of different purposes. Most of those funds are used to support pilot grants for young investigators who are developing the possibility of future research project grant applications, for funding grants between applications where there may be a lag in funding, and for general things like improvements and repair, and replacement of small instruments that break down. This is a fund at the institution that has the flexibility and instant capability to be responsive.

Senator HARKIN. It sounds like this is something that is really important to the smaller schools, those that are not in the mainstream of grants.

Dr. WHITNEY. On a formula basis, in 1991, the smaller schools will be getting a minimum of $5,000, where the larger schools may get up to $200,000. The program goes across the board.

Senator HARKIN. And the formula is based upon the number of grants?

Dr. WHITNEY. The formula is based upon the amount of money that NIH is providing to the institution in grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements.

Senator HARKIN. I see. I am not correct in my assumption then. The shared instrumentation grant. Just at the very sound of it, it sounds good. Why would that be cut?

Dr. WHITNEY. Again, I think it is simply a matter of staying within the constraints of the budget without impacting too heavily on other programs. This is 1-year money, and so it is easier to work with this budget than it is to work with budgets that have 3 and 4 out-years to be dealt with.

Senator HARKIN. Last year, this committee asked NIH to explore the alternative of using marine animals for biomedical research.

What were your findings with regard to any nonprimate marine animals for research?

Dr. WHITNEY. We have had a good response to our request for applications for grants in the biological models and materials research program using marine models, everything from sea urchins to different species of fish. That RFA, or a program announcement, will be repeated next year, and we will continue to try to stimulate activity within development of marine and other aquatic models from this program. If you will recall, we had a 50-percent increase in that program last year.

Senator HARKIN. I see the budget request for buildings and facilities includes $16.5 million for animal facilities. Will this funding, along with the previous appropriations, be adequate to bring NIH facilities up to standards issued by the American Association of Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care?

Dr. WHITNEY. That plus one more increment will do that in 1992. There is a 1993 increment also.

Senator HARKIN. How much is that going to be?

Dr. WHITNEY. I believe it is $12 million for 1993, in the buildings and facilities funds.

Senator HARKIN. Dr. Raub.

Dr. RAUB. Mr. Chairman, may I add something and perhaps Dr. Whitney will want to elaborate. Based on the previous appropriations, we have reached a point where we have filed an application with the outside accreditation group for a review and, we hope, accreditation of the 20 percent or so of our existing facilities that are not yet fully accredited. But the continuing request we have in 1992 is part of the longer term task of maintaining accreditation. Dr. Whitney is much better informed about that process than I am. Dr. WHITNEY. We expect to be site-visited sometime between June and August of this year.

QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY THE SUBCOMMITTEE

Senator HARKIN. Very good. Thank you. There will be some additional questions which will be submitted for your response in the

record.

[The following questions were not asked at the hearing, but were submitted to the Institute for response subsequent to the hearing:]

QUESTIONS SUBMITTED BY THE SUBCOMMITTEE

GENERAL CLINICAL RESEARCH CENTERS

Question. I understand your institute supports 74 clinical research centers around the country that are available and used to support the various clinical trials that the other Institutes initiate. Most of these clinical research centers I believe are located in hospitals and are programs which hospitals very much want to keep. Describe for the committee the nature of cost sharing arrangements between NIH and the hospitals which house these programs.

Answer. Approximately 25 percent of all the research projects hosted at the 74 General Clinical Research Centers around the country are dedicated to clinical trials research. In general, the hospital-based costs paid by the Program are set by the regional office of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS). In several cases, over the past few years, those rates at some centers have appeared to be much higher than those for other nearby institutions. On a case-by-case basis, program and grants management staff of the National Center for Research Resources have been able to negotiate lower rates for space costs, resulting in significant savings. The hospitals which host the General Clinical Research Centers readily acknowledge the role that the facility plays in their overall clinical research mission. To remain competitive with other sites throughout the country, many of the hospitals, associated with academic medical centers, have accepted levels of reimbursement below that set by the regional HHS office.

Question. I see that your request for the Clinical Research program is $126,891,000 or a 6.3 percent increase over 1991. How much are hospitals and other host institutions providing in matching or cost sharing funds?

Answer. It is difficult to quantify the funds contributed by the host institutions of the General Clinical Research Centers (GCRC). The cost of conducting clinical research has increased at rates which significantly exceed the biomedical research development price index over the past few years. Administratively, funds provided by the GCRC Program are adjusted to cost, based on institutional analyses which are approved by the regional office of Department of Health and Human Services. Over the past two fiscal years, hospital based costs increased at rates of approximately 20 percent per year and accounted for approximately 40 percent of the entire GCRC program budget. As a result, several GCRC sites were requested to reanalyze their budgets to develop a more cost effective configuration for their centers. To reach that goal, several institutions hosting GCRC sites reduced the cost for hosting the Center at their institution significantly. In FY 1990, the level of savings was approximately $2,000,000. In addition to

adjusting the base hospitalization rate, several institutions also contributed additional research nursing support. All this activity was voluntary from the institution's standpoint to make their center's applications more competitive and not mandated by the Program.

NONMAMMALIAN MODELS FOR RESEARCH

Question. The Biological Models and Materials Research (BMMR) Program was established in 1989 to provide a source of funding for the development of alternative or adjunctive nonmammalian models for biomedical research. How many requests for research projects in the area of alternative model development has the Center received to date and what percentage of the number have you been able to fund?

Answer. The Program recently issued a Request for Applications for the development of nonmammalian model systems. One hundred applications were received, and of those applications, eight were funded by the Center in FY 1990, and thus far, six more have been funded in FY 1991. Also, approximately four to six will be funded by other components at NIH in FY 1991. Thus, 18 to 20 percent will be funded from the RFA.

PRIMATE RESOURCES

Question. Your Institute supports the seven primate centers around the country which breed and provide a significant number of animals for research. Are these breeding programs sufficient to provide us with an adequate number of animals for research or do we still need to import primates from the wild?

Answer. Breeding colonies at the seven NCRR regional primate research centers produce 2100-2200 animals per year. NCRR also supports breeding colonies of specific pathogen free Rhesus monkeys that will provide 500 animals annually by 19921993. However, these resources cannot fully meet the national requirements. Because of the long gestation period for nonhuman primates and the 3-5 year age of maturity for most species of nonhuman primates, those resources can provide a small portion of the nonhuman primates required for biomedical research. In addition to those sources, the biomedical research community may have to consider commercial sources, and importing a larger number of animals than over the past 18 months, since restrictions were imposed because of concerns about an ebolalike virus. No chimpanzees have been imported into the United States for research since 1976; and chimpanzees were declared "endangered" in the wild by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1989. The NCRR Chimpanzee Breeding and Research Program currently produces approximately 50 offspring annually to meet the currently estimated requirements for AIDS research. We cannot be certain that our current resources will be sufficient, since we cannot forecast what types of diseases may arise that

« PreviousContinue »