Statement of Support

Research and Training in Systems & Integrated Biology

  Endorsed by:  

American Association of Anatomists
American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy
American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases
American Physiological Society
American Society for Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics
American Society for Nutritional Sciences
American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges
Eli Lilly and Company
Merck and Company
PhRMA Foundation
Researchers Against Inactivity-Related Disorders
Safety Pharmacology Society 
Society of Toxicology  
Wyeth Research
 

Systems & integrated biology is the study of responses in organs and organisms, including intact animals.  Increased support for research and training on organs, organisms, and intact animals is crucial to continued progress in the fight against disease and suffering. Research and training in systems and integrated biology has declined over the past two decades while there has been an emphasis in support of valuable research and training at the cellular and molecular levels.  However, the erosion of support for training and research in integrated systems is slowing the rate at which fundamental discoveries made at the cellular level are translated into useful medical therapies.  

To correct this training and research imbalance, the above endorsees recommend that: 

• Scientists with expertise in integrated systems should be adequately represented on NIH peer-review panels.  NIH should commission panels with an appropriate representation of experts competent to provide peer evaluation at the level of the whole animal.

• Support for whole systems and integrated training and research be fostered among pharmacology, clinical pharmacology, physiology, anatomy, toxicology and related biological disciplines. 

Endorsement of these recommendations in principle have been affirmed in: 

• The U.S. Senate FY 2002 Labor, Health and Human Services & Related Agencies Appropriations Report (107-84);
  
  
• The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) Annual Consensus Conference Report on Federal Funding for Biomedical and Related Life Sciences Research for FY 2002; and
  
  
• The 1995 Integrated Medical Sciences Initiative (IMSI) endorsed by hundreds of biomedical scientists, several Nobel Laureates, and numerous scientific societies.