Capitol Hill Day is one of the most exciting days for AAI’s Public Policy Fellows. The annual two-day event brings the Fellows to the heart of government, where they visit their Congressional representatives to advocate for biomedical research and increased funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH). With recent actions targeting NIH funding, their visit to Capitol Hill was vitally important.
Supporting Indirect Costs Funding
On March 4, 2025, the ten participants of the 2024-2025 AAI Public Policy Fellows Program (PPFP) traveled to Washington, D.C., for the Capitol Hill Day program. The program started with a training dinner, which featured remarks by special guest speaker, Tannaz Rasouli, M.P.H., Senior Director of Public Policy and Strategic Outreach at the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) and Executive Director of the Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research. Rasouli gave an overview of institutional facilities and administrative (F&A) costs, also known as indirect costs, and elaborated on why ample federal support for F&A costs is so pivotal to conducting research. Her presentation was delivered just weeks after the NIH announced a new 15% cap on F&A costs, a decision that has been temporarily blocked by a U.S. District Court. The Fellows communicated AAI’s strong opposition to this cap during their meetings on Capitol Hill. The dinner also included a presentation by Jake Schumacher, AAI Director of Government Affairs, and Emily Kansler, Ph.D., AAI Senior Science Policy Analyst, to ensure the Fellows were fully prepared to communicate AAI’s key messages during their congressional visits.
Meeting Representatives on The Hill
The following day AAI and the Fellows visited 27 congressional offices, including meetings with five Members of Congress. The Fellows shared information about their own scientific research and how federal investment in NIH benefits them, their institutions, and their local and state economies. They also explained why research on the immune system is so crucial to human health.
The Hill Day participants urged their Members of Congress to complete the appropriations bills for fiscal year 2025 as soon as possible and to provide at least $48.9 billion for the NIH (an increase of $1.8 billion), $1.7 billion for the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (an increase of $200 million), and urged them to retain bill language that prevents the Administration from making changes to already-negotiated F&A cost rates. The Fellows also asked lawmakers to help ensure that NIH study sections fully resume as soon as possible. Most study section meetings had been cancelled or postponed indefinitely due to the Department of Health and Human Services communications freeze.
AAI’s Public Policy Fellows
A total of 138 early career AAI members have now participated in congressional visits thanks to the AAI PPFP. For more information about the program, please visit: https://www.aai.org/Public-Affairs/PPFP
Hill Day attendees: AAI Public Policy Fellows Mark Brimble, Ph.D., Brennah Britten, Ph.D, Douglas Chung, Ph.D., David Constant, Ph.D., Neha Dubey, Ph.D., Patricia Ferrer, Ph.D., Rebekah Kendall, Ph.D., Jillian McCool, Ph.D., Gianluca Veggiani, Ph.D., and Insha Zahoor, Ph.D.; AAI Committee on Public Affairs Chair Cherié Butts and AAI PPFP Review Committee Chair Jonathan Deane, Ph.D.; AAI CEO Loretta Doan, Ph.D.; AAI Chief Program & Policy Officer Lauren Gross; AAI Director of Government Affairs Jake Schumacher; and, AAI Senior Science Policy Analyst Emily Kansler, Ph.D.
