Posted by Bill Schmidt, JDF on October 24, 1998 at 21:17:46:
I don't if visitors to this page received JDF's latest email "Washington Report", but as part of the final Omnibus Budget Bill signed by President Clinton last week, there is a $30 million special initiative in autoimmune-related disease research, including (prominently) Type 1 diabetes.
Once again, Speaker Gingrich, in sponsoring this provision, has shown his unwavering commitment to enhancing the amount and quality of diabetes research. The new funds were included in the NIAID portion of the NIH budget, though portions of the funding are likely to be distributed to several of the institutes that support autoimmune disease research. I do not have further details right now, as the precise mechanism for distribution of the funds has not been decided by the NIH leadership.
This development is very good news for people concerned about research for the cure of Type 1 diabetes.