Coalition for Imaging and Bioengineering Research (CIBR)

Hyunsuk Shim, PhD, Seena Dehkharghani, MD and Scott Cordova (MD/PhD student) visited with House Representatives Tom Price and Hank Johnson; as well as Senators David Perdue and Johnny Isakson. They participated in a successful Medical Imaging Showcase event organized by the Coalition for Imaging and Bioengineering Research (CIBR). The topic of discussion was the impact of NIH research on imaging, technology and patient care. Dr. Shim stated, “I felt so much better about this trip compared to two years ago. This time the congressional staffers were all very supportive of NIH research.”

In fact, there are bipartisan efforts ongoing in both the Senate and House. On the day of their congressional visits (May 19th) the House Energy and Commerce Committee passed the 21st Century Cures Act proposing an additional $10 billion dollars over five years to keep America as the innovation capital of the world. In addition, two prominent senators (Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) are pairing up to create a new caucus to support NIH.  

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United States Preventive Services Task Force

Several faculty members went to Capitol Hill during the ACR Annual Meeting. Representatives from the Breast Imaging division, including Drs. Mimi Newell, Anna Holbrook, Maria Piraner and Jean Kunjummen, spoke with members of Congress, asking for support for a newly introduced bill that would require the United States Preventive Services Task Force to reveal its procedure and methodology in creating its recommendations, including the recently issued draft recommendations that could potentially limit screening mammography access. Their recommendations only support biennial screening for women between 50 and 74 years of age, and exclude women 40-49, and women over 74. This could cause a projected 17 million women to lose coverage and many women to die unnecessarily.