Along with 46 other biomedical societies, ASPET signed on to a letter last week to the House Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies (LHHS) Appropriations Subcommittee that stressed the importance of animal research supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).  In the letter, ASPET and other societies asked the LHHS to consider the following while drafting its fiscal year 2023 appropriations bill:

1. Include language that supports and provides additional funding for large animal foundational and translational research supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Large animal research includes, but is not limited to canines, felines, nonhuman primates, pigs, sheep, rabbits, ferrets, hamsters, guinea pigs, and llamas.
2. Consider the numerous laws, regulations, and policies that strictly regulate animal research and to consult with the scientific community when drafting appropriations language to ensure future requirements are evidence-based and in the best interest of human and animal health.
3. Acknowledge the critical need for nonhuman primate research and allocate additional funding for NIH and the National Primate Research Centers (NPRCs) to allow researchers to conduct this essential work.
4. Address the ongoing refusal of numerous airlines to transport animals for research purposes. Specifically, the biomedical research community encourages the House LHHS Appropriations Subcommittee to include language that directs the NIH, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Food and Drug Administration to form an interagency committee that develops and routinely evaluates a federal plan that ensure the long-term support, breeding locations, veterinary oversight, and enrichment and social needs of nonhuman primates in the U.S.
5. Include language that directs NIH to provide a list of steps the agency intends to take over the next year to reduce investigator burden, as required by the 21st Century Cures Act; this should be accompanied by implementation timelines and planned strategies for communicating new information with the extramural community. 

 Read More