Today, through its Office of Science Policy and Government Affairs in Washington, D.C., the AACR continues to support federal funding for cancer research, providing an authoritative source of information to policy makers and regulators and serving as a powerful voice for the cancer research community.

Working to Safeguard Federal Funding

Continued progress against cancer was threatened in 2017 when the Trump administration released a budget proposal for fiscal year 2018 that included a 21 percent cut in funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The AACR raised its authoritative voice throughout the year on behalf of the NIH and NCI, opposing the proposed cuts and mobilizing leaders and stakeholders to urge Congress to make cancer research a continued priority.

• Early-Career Investigator Hill Day. Due to budget limitations in FY 2017, the NCI funded only 12 percent of approved research grant applications from early-career investigators, leaving many promising ideas unsupported. As a result, the average age at which researchers receive their first NIH independent research grant is 42, and this dearth of opportunities threatens the future of the cancer workforce. AACR member and mentor Steven R. Patierno, PhD, and the AACR Associate Member Council brought 15 Associate Members to Washington in March 2017 for the second annual Early-Career Investigator Hill Day to educate Congress about the vital importance of sustaining the nation’s pipeline of cancer scientists. Meetings with 39 congressional offices were held in conjunction with a National Day of Action campaign, in which advocates from around the U.S. urged lawmakers to provide predictable funding increases for the NIH.

• AACR-AACI-ASCO Joint Hill Day. In May, the AACR marked National Cancer Research Month by partnering with the Association of American Cancer Institutes (AACI) and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) for their tenth annual joint Hill Day. The three organizations brought more than 80 researchers, physician-scientists, cancer center directors, survivors, and patient advocates to Capitol Hill to meet with congressional leaders and their offices to discuss the vital role of federally funded cancer research in improving the lives of patients. At a reception the evening before the Hill Day, the participating organizations honored Rep. Andre Carson (D-IN) (second from left) and Rep. David McKinley (R-WV) for their outstanding leadership on behalf of cancer research.
• Cancer Progress Report Congressional Briefing. The AACR released its seventh annual Cancer Progress Report at a special Congressional briefing on Capitol Hill. Hosted by AACR CEO Margaret Foti, PhD, MD (hc), and AACR President Michael A. Caligiuri, MD, the briefing outlined the recent advances made against cancer as a result of federally funded research and called on Congress to support future advances through sustained increases in funding. Two members of Congress, Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MD), addressed the briefing to express their strong support for NIH funding. Representative Raskin, a colorectal cancer survivor who was featured in the report, joined other featured survivors—Merkel cell carcinoma survivor Carrie Best and ovarian cancer survivor Teri Woodhull—in discussing the impact of cancer research on their lives.

• Rally for Medical Research Hill Day. In September, the AACR resumed its leadership role as the founding organizer of the Rally for Medical Research, joining more than 300 scientific and patient organizations to advocate for biomedical science. The fifth annual Hill Day brought more than 300 advocates to Capitol Hill to participate in more than 240 meetings with congressional offices. Several members of Congress addressed the Rally participants and confirmed their support for federally funded biomedical research, including Congressman Tom Cole (R-OK) (near right) and Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO), co-chairmen of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies; and Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Jerry Moran (R-KS), members of the Senate Committee on Appropriations.
  
  Across the country, advocates participating in the Rally National Day of Action used e-mail and social media to contact 96 senators and 291 members of the House to express their support for sustained increases to the NIH budget.
• Science Policy and Government Affairs Committee Members on Capitol Hill. Members of the AACR Science Policy and Government Affairs Committee attended meetings with key congressional offices during a special visit to Capitol Hill in November. Committee members met with Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA); the office of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY); the office of Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN), chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee; and the office of Representative Mark Walker (R-NC), chairman of the Republican Study Committee. The AACR members urged the congressional leaders to support a budget agreement that would lift the spending caps and to increase the NIH budget by $2 billion for FY 2018.

• Congressional Briefing on Cancer Survivorship. Congresswoman Diana DeGette (D-CO) of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which has oversight authority over NIH, provided opening remarks for a Congressional briefing organized by the AACR in April. Titled “The Road to Cancer Survivorship: Discover, Predict, Prevent, and Treat,” the briefing was moderated by George D. Demetri, MD, a member of the AACR Board of Directors and chair of the AACR Science Policy and Government Affairs Committee. Panelists included AACR members Anna D. Barker, PhD, Chanita Hughes-Halbert, PhD, Andreana N. Holowatyj, and patient advocate Jack Whelan.
• AACR-SITC Joint Congressional Briefing. The AACR worked with the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) in July to host a Congressional briefing titled “Progress in Immunotherapy: Delivering Hope and Clinical Benefit to Cancer Patients.” Moderated by AACR President-Elect Elizabeth M. Jaffee, MD, the briefing highlighted the exciting innovations in the field of immuno-oncology and discussed ways to ensure that even more cancer patients can benefit from these revolutionary treatments. Panelists included Lisa H. Butterfield, PhD, president of SITC; Bernard A. Fox, PhD, past-president of SITC; AACR members Steven A. Rosenberg, MD, PhD, and Daniel S. Chen, MD, PhD; and patient advocate Stefanie Joho.

Fostering Dialogue with Regulators and the Cancer Community

The AACR’s advocacy efforts to ensure robust, sustained, and predictable funding increases for the NIH are critical to driving innovations in cancer research. To ensure that those innovations are translated into treatments and delivered to patients as rapidly and efficiently as possible, the AACR also engages regulators at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other government agencies. Through workshops and briefings, the AACR supports the FDA’s mission by highlighting the science behind regulatory policy.

• AACR Annual Meeting 2017: Regulatory Science and Science Policy Tracks. To complement the cutting-edge cancer science on the AACR Annual Meeting program, the OSPGA presented two comprehensive tracks of sessions covering science policy and regulatory science and policy. The science policy track featured a timely session titled “E-cigarettes: Are They a Public Health Threat or a Useful Cessation Tool?” Chaired by AACR Tobacco and Cancer Subcommittee member Benjamin A. Toll, PhD, the session included presentations from subcommittee chair Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD, and Brian A. King, PhD, MPH, deputy director for research translation at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control Office on Smoking and Health. A highlight of the regulatory science and policy track was a session titled “Tables Turned: A Conversation with the Press About the Future of Cancer Research and Treatment.” The sessions featured Richard Pazdur, MD, director of the FDA Oncology Center for Excellence, moderating a panel that included Adam Feuerstein from The Street, Matthew Herper from Forbes, Laurie McGinley from The Washington Post, and Meg Tirrell from CNBC.

• AACR-FDA Oncology Dose Finding Workshop, Part III. Co-chaired by AACR President-Elect Elizabeth M. Jaffee, MD, and Amy E. McKee, MD, supervisory associate director at the FDA Office of Hematology and Oncology Products, the third edition of this annual jointly-organized workshop was held in July and focused on approaches to combination therapy and best practices regarding patient and dose selection, biomarkers to aid in selection, and novel endpoints that can define patient benefit.

• AACR-FDA Workshop on Liquid Biopsies in Oncology Drug and Device Development, Part II. Held in October, the second edition of this joint workshop examined the regulatory challenges in adopting liquid biopsies for early detection, disease monitoring, and use as surrogate end point markers for drug development. The workshop was co-chaired by AACR Past President (2014-2015) Carlos L. Arteaga, MD, FAACR (far right); Pasi A. Jänne, MD, PhD, a member of the AACR Regulatory Science and Policy Subcommittee; Julia Beaver, MD, acting director of the FDA Division of Oncology Products 1, Office of Hematology and Oncology (OHOP); Gideon Blumenthal, MD, acting deputy director of OHOP; and Reena Philip, PhD, director of the Division of Molecular Genetics and Pathology at the FDA Office of In Vitro Diagnostics and Radiological Health.

Scientist↔Survivor Program

Nearly 50 advocates participated in AACR Scientist↔Survivor programs (SSP) in 2017, which were offered at the Annual Meeting in April and at the Science of Cancer Health Disparities conference in September. The participants attended sessions with AACR scientist mentors, gaining an understanding of the innovative science behind their treatment experiences while providing their counterparts with vital patient perspectives.

During the Annual Meeting, three AACR members were named Emeritus Mentors in recognition of their longstanding commitment to the SSP. The advocates thanked Aime Franco, PhD, Jerry S. H. Lee, PhD, and Emil Lou, MD, PhD, for sharing their time and expertise with program participants for more than three years.

Program participants took advantage of the Annual Meeting’s Washington, D.C., location by attending a congressional briefing on Capitol Hill titled “The Road to Cancer Survivorship: Discover, Predict, Prevent, and Treat” (see above). SSP founder Anna Barker, PhD, and patient advocate Jack Whelan participated in a panel discussion during the briefing.