Within the past month, FRAXA Research Foundation has signed on to join the Friends of National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), asking for an increase government funding to research disorders such as Fragile X syndrome.
In fiscal year 2022, the Friends of NICHD will once again endorse the Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research’s funding recommendation of $46.1 billion for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and request a proportionate funding increase for the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) of $1.7 billion.
This reflects a $117 million funding increase for NICHD over the institute’s currently appropriated funding level. The Friends of NICHD also highlight the need for a robust direct emergency supplemental appropriation to support urgently needed pandemic-related research for children, pregnant women, mothers and babies, individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and other critical populations, as well as research relief funds for NIH as a whole.
By signing on with the Friends of NICHD, FRAXA hopes to be able to move the needle in research beyond the researchers we are funding in 2021. One of FRAXA’s board members, Dean Clark, had this to say about the proposed increase in funding:
We at FRAXA are very excited to see progress in government funding for Fragile X Syndrome and other diseases and disorders. This should dramatically accelerate our progress toward our common goal of effective treatments and an eventual cure. We parents have been fighting for funding like this for decades. This can truly have a huge impact, especially since there are currently no effective treatments specifically targeted at Fragile X.
Dean Clark
FRAXA Board Member