When it comes to finding new treatments for deadly illnesses like cancer and Alzheimer's disease, there's no doubt that appropriate federal funding of the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is essential.
But are government dollars for biomedical research aligned with researchers' needs? That critical question formed the basis of a panel discussion held at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in Boston on Monday, November 6.
The one-hour discussion was presented jointly by Harvard and NBC News MACH. You can watch a recording of the event here:
Panelists for the discussion, moderated by MACH's editorial director, David Freeman, were:
Howard Bauchner, editor-in-chief of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Barry Bloom, former dean of the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a professor of immunology and infectious diseases at Harvard.
Otis Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society
Julie Gerberding, executive vice-president for strategic communications, global public policy, and population health at Merck, and a former director of the CDC.