How Can NIST Better Serve the Needs of the Biomedical Research Community in the 21st Century?
Opening Statement By Chairman David Wu
Good afternoon. I’d like to welcome everyone to today’s hearing on improving the biomedical program at NIST.
This is the second hearing the Subcommittee has held to examine how NIST can better serve the needs of the biomedical community. Our first hearing focused on what NIST could do to meet the metrology—or measurement—needs of the biologics drug industry. Today the Subcommittee will hear testimony on how NIST can better respond to the metrology needs of the broader biomedical community, including performing research to support not just biologic drug development, but also personalized medicine and diagnostic testing.
We all know that people across the country have recently been engaged in an ongoing debate over health care reform. That debate has focused in part on who should bear the costs for providing health care. This Subcommittee will take the discussion further and examine how we can use science to reduce our health care costs while improving care for patients.
The growth of the biomedical sciences is essential to providing better care for patients and better treatment options for doctors. Earlier and more accurate diagnoses of chronic diseases, such as heart disease and cancer, would save billions of dollars each year in medical costs. Moreover, better diagnostic tools and the use of personalized medicine can lead to more effective treatments that are tailored to a patient’s needs.
In short, advancing the biomedical sciences promotes patient health, saves medical costs, and will lead to job creation in the biotechnology and health care industries.
We have heard from the biomedical community that metrology research is necessary to take biomedical science to the next level and that NIST needs to be more connected to industry and academia to innovatively respond to the demands of this rapidly changing industry.
That is the focus of today’s hearing—innovation. Today we will hear about new, innovative biomedical treatments and how NIST may develop new, innovative processes to provide better service and support to this burgeoning industry.
I want to thank our witnesses for being here. We plan to act on their guidance in the process of reauthorizing the America COMPETES Act.
Witnesses
Panel
4 - Dr. Karen Mann
President Association for Molecular Pathology Association for Molecular Pathology
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1 - Dr. Thomas Baer
Executive Director Stanford Photonics Research Center Ginzton Lab Stanford Photonics Research Center Ginzton Lab
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3 - Dr. Daniel C. Sullivan
Professor and Vice Chair for Research, Duke University Department of Radiology; Science Advisor, Radiologic Society of North America Duke University Department
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2 - Sharon Terry
President and CEO Genetic Alliance Genetic Alliance
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