Who are the biggest supporters of raising money and awareness on
Capital Hill in Washington, DC for Pancreatic Cancer research? Are
there lobbyist groups in Washington, DC who are working towards
approval of new federal funding for research?

Infobiz-ga,

The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCan) appears to be the only
significant Washington interest group solely devoted to finding a cure
specifically for pancreatic cancer. A link to their website is below:

www.pancan.org

Regarding their public policy efforts, their website reads:

” PanCAN educates the public, legislators, federal and state agency
officials as well as health and research communities about pancreatic
cancer, the risks of the disease and the latest advancements in
treatment, detection and prevention. PanCAN advocates for increased
funding for pancreatic cancer from the national government. The
National Cancer Institute (NCI) is the governmental agency that funds
cancer research. PanCAN’s efforts have helped to implement
congressional language that expresses concern about pancreatic cancer.
These efforts will help to ensure that pancreatic cancer research
receives greater research funding, and that other areas of concern for
pancreatic cancer such as awareness, education and translational
research are improved upon.”

-http://www.pancan.org/1about/pancan.html

While collecting donations is an important part of a cancer research
group's funding, the largest financial support comes from the federal
goverment.

The National Cancer Institute is the primary organization that deals
with federal funding for Cancer Research. In the past four years,
according to PanCan, federal funding for pancreatic research has more
than doubled, going from $17.5 million in 1999 to $36.5 million in
2003. PanCan believes their lobbying efforts have helped in
accomplishing this fundraising increase.

Here is a link to PanCan’s public policy agenda: 

http://www.pancan.org/1legis/index.html

Find out more about the National Cancer Institute here:

http://www.nci.nih.gov/

Pancreatic cancer research also benefits from efforts by broader
cancer research groups such as the National Comprehensive Cancer
Network, the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG), and the Eastern
Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG). Their websites are listed below:

http://www.nccn.org/
http://www.rtog.org/
http://ecog.dfci.harvard.edu/

Google Search Terms: “Pancreatic Cancer Washington DC”

Feel free to ask for clarification, if needed. I hope this helps!

playhosea-ga

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Request for Answer Clarification by infobiz-ga on 22 Jun 2003 10:06 PDT

Hi:

Thanks for the info on pancan which I knew about. I wanted to know who
are the key supporters in the house and senate on capital hill when it
comes to appropriations for pancreatic cancer research?

Thanks,
Steve Eisenberg

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Clarification of Answer by playhosea-ga on 24 Jun 2003 10:43 PDT

Infobiz-ga,

I apologize for not understanding your question. As your clarification
request implies, those House and Senate members who play critical
roles in appropriations for Pancreatic Cancer research are those on
the appropriations committees.

"The Chairman of the Senate Labor/HHS Appropriations Subcommittee is
Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa); the Ranking Republican on the Subcommittee
is Sen. is Arlen Specter (R-Pennsylvania.)"

"The Chairman of the House Labor/HHS Appropriations Subcommittee is
Rep. Ralph Regula (R-OH); and the Ranking Democrat on the Subcommittee
is Rep. David Obey (D-Wisconsin.)"

http://www.pancan.org/1legis/appr/appr.html

As you may have guessed, however, those in influential positions are
not necessarily the biggest supporters of pancreatic cancer research.
Senator Dianne Feinstein of California has emerged as a leading
supporter of cancer research. She was the primary sponsor for the
National Cancer Act of 2002. This bill is still making its way to
becoming law.

http://www.pancan.org/1legis/publiccomm/022702.html

Also Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas, is co-chair of the Senate Cancer
Coalition. His page devoted to cancer research is listed below:

http://brownback.senate.gov/LICancer.htm

Hope this helps!

playhosea-ga