AACR, Founding Organizer and Lead Sponsor of the 10th Annual Rally for Medical Research Hill Day, to Advocate for Continued Growth in Federal Funding for NIH

Nearly 400 organizations join forces again this year to improve health, inspire hope, and save lives

WASHINGTON, D.C. — As the founding organizer and lead sponsor for the tenth annual Rally for Medical Research Hill Day on September 14, the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) will join nearly 400 other organizations to advocate for robust, sustained, and predictable annual funding increases for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This year marks the first in-person Hill Day since 2019.

Hill Day participants will thank members of Congress for providing NIH with an increase of $14.9 billion over the last seven years while urging them to continue their support by providing the agency with at least $49 billion for its base program budget in fiscal year (FY) 2023.

“We are grateful to Congress for their sustained, bipartisan efforts to prioritize medical research through investments in NIH,” said Jon Retzlaff, chief policy officer of the AACR. “NIH funding is essential to improving the health of patients across the country, ensuring rapid scientific advances, developing new treatments and cures, and strengthening our national, regional, and local economies. We call on Congress to continue their support so that the momentum against cancer and countless other diseases can continue.”

During the Hill Day, nearly 300 scientists, health professionals, and patient advocates from more than 30 states will meet with House and Senate members and their staff to emphasize the importance and impact of investing in NIH:

• NIH funding contributed to every one of the 356 new drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) between 2010 and 2019, including 126 first-in-class products to treat a wide range of diseases.
• Investment in medical research can reduce future costs of care. Most health care dollars are spent on treating chronic diseases. To better prevent and manage these costly diseases, medical research must be a strong national priority.
• The funding provided to NIH fuels the U.S. economy and creates jobs in communities across the country. In FY 2021, research funded by NIH supported nearly 552,500 jobs and more than $94 billion in economic activity across the U.S.

In conjunction with the Hill Day, advocates across the country will participate in the Rally for Medical Research National Day of Action. Partnering organizations will encourage their communities to contact their members of Congress via phone, email, and social media to urge their support for a $4.1 billion increase for NIH in FY 2023. 

The Rally for Medical Research initiative was launched in April 2013 to bring together the entire medical research community to urge Congress to make NIH funding a national priority. Through the annual Hill Day, the Rally for Medical Research continues to raise awareness about the critical need for continued investment in NIH to improve health, spur progress, inspire hope, and save lives.