AAAS denounces coalition efforts to stop health studies
AAAS, the world's  largest general science society, today denounced efforts by a grassroots lobbying church organization to block critical public health research on moral  grounds. 

"We can't let  moralizing trump sound science when the public's health and safety are at  stake," said Alan I. Leshner, chief executive officer of AAAS and executive  publisher of its journal, Science. "The spread of HIV/AIDS, drug abuse and other  public health crises cause tremendous human suffering all over the world. If  we're ever going to get a handle on these issues and help to improve human  well-being, we must learn more about them through high-quality, peer-reviewed  research."

Leshner's comments  came in response to the Traditional Values Coalition (TVC), a lobbying group  opposed to homosexuality and abortion that announced plans Wednesday to call for  a U.S. Justice Department investigation into federally funded studies tied to  health, sexuality and drug-abuse issues. The TVC has developed a "hit list" of  more than 200 projects funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health.  Studies on the group's list investigate, for  instance, how various drug-use patterns affect the spread of AIDS.   

"They're targeting  legitimate studies that promise to give us new insights into how certain  behaviors contribute to diseases like AIDS," Leshner noted. "The question of  whether or not such behaviors are moral is irrelevant: They occur frequently and  they are key factors in the spread of disease. We must have the courage, as  scientists and citizens, to understand and confront them. Society deserves no  less."   

Scientific oversight  of federally funded research is essential to ensure that taxpayers'  contributions toward public science are well spent, Leshner noted. But, he  added, all NIH-funded studies are subject to a highly competitive and rigorous  peer-review system. Attempts by special interests groups to undermine this peer  review "are a disservice to the public, and should not be tolerated," he said.

Founded in 1848, the  American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has worked to advance  science for human well-being through its projects, programs, and publications,  in the areas of science policy, science education and international scientific  cooperation. AAAS and its journal, Science, report nearly 140,000 individual and  institutional subscribers, plus 272 affiliated organizations in more than 130  countries, serving a total of 10 million individuals. Thus, AAAS is the world's  largest general federation of  scientists. Science is an editorially independent, multidisciplinary,  peer-reviewed weekly that ranks among the world's most prestigious scientific  journals.   

AAMC Statement in Support of the NIH Peer Review System
Washington, D.C., October 29, 2003  - Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC)  President Jordan J. Cohen, M.D., released the following statement today,  regarding recent controversy over certain National Institutes of Health-funded  grants:

"AAMC is deeply concerned about news reports implying that  some 200 NIH-funded research grants on controversial, but critically important  public health issues, largely dealing with sexual behaviors, are being subjected  to extraordinary scrutiny as a result of pressure from either members of  congress or private advocacy groups. While congressional oversight of the merit  review process plays an essential role in ensuring appropriate accountability  for the nation's investment in scientific research, the integrity of the  oversight processes themselves should never be compromised by intrusion of  extraneous sectarian or ideological issues. 

The Association deplores all efforts to subject the NIH  research portfolio and individual research grants to ideological litmus tests.  The American public must demand that the most scientifically rigorous and  relevant research addressing vital public health concerns be funded without  regard to the sectarian or ideological views of political parties or other  special interest groups - regardless of where they reside on the ideological  spectrum.

In recent conversations with Dr. Elias Zerhouni and other NIH  senior officials about this matter, we have reaffirmed our strong support of the  NIH peer review system and its ability to identify and promote the highest  quality of original, creative research. AAMC remains convinced that Dr. Zerhouni,  the leaders of the 27 NIH institutes and centers, and the senior administrative  and scientific staff of the NIH, are faithfully defending the integrity of the  NIH peer review system and will not tolerate any ideological distortion of the  values that have made NIH the most respected of government agencies and the most  trusted biomedical research enterprise in the world."