A historic 65% increase in funding for Down syndrome research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) was announced for the 2018 fiscal year. The decision to increase funding comes from the Congress’ House Labor and Health and Services Appropriations Subcommittee. This fantastic news shows that Congress recognizes the importance and benefits of Down syndrome research. It also demonstrates the incredibly strong influence of the Down syndrome community that came together to advocate for funding. This increase in funding will allow the NIH to conduct extensive and innovative research in Down syndrome. Due to the increase, the NIH was able to create a brand new trans-NIH initiative dedicated to individuals with Down syndrome.
That initiative is known as the INCLUDE Project which stands for INvestigation of Co-occurring conditions across the Lifespan to Understand Down syndromE. The details behind the project were recently unveiled and will focus on improving the health and well-being for individuals with Down syndrome. It will also put an emphasis on learning about risk and resilience factors that individuals with Down syndrome may share with those who do not have Down syndrome. This project will involve 18 institutes at NIH and will look at three aspects of Down syndrome research. 1) To conduct targeted based science studies with high benefit potential. 2) To assemble a large study population of individuals with Down syndrome. 3) To establish a clinical trials network for therapies to be tested on co-occurring conditions in individuals with Down syndrome.
This project, as well as the additional funding awarded to the NIH for Down syndrome research, could become extremely beneficial in producing more treatment options for individuals with Down syndrome. Combining the research that comes out of the INCLUDE Project with that of the LuMind RDS, Global Down Syndrome Foundation, and Jerome Lejeune could produce breakthroughs in research as well as speed up development of new treatment options for individuals with Down syndrome. This is all incredible news for the Down syndrome community and hopefully we can learn more from the new research project very soon!
Information gathered from the LuMind Foundation. LuMind is great place to find information on all things Down syndrome research. Visit www.lumindrds.org to learn more and to sign up for research project notifications and other Down syndrome research news.
Click here for more information on the funding increase: https://www.lumindrds.org/historic-65-increase-for-nih-down-syndrome-research/
Click here for more info on the INCLUDE Project: https://www.nih.gov/include-project/include-project-research-planThis entry was posted in DSAGSL Blog by emily. Bookmark the permalink.
