On June 28, 2018, the U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations approved its version of the Fiscal Year 2019 Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations bill. In a report accompanying the bill, the Committee included language commending population research programs supported by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and the National Institute on Aging.
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute on Child Health and Human Development
Population Research-The NICHD Population Dynamics Branch fosters scientific understanding of changes in human health and development at the population level by supporting research and research training in demographic or population research. Through the Population Dynamics Centers Research Infrastructure Program, the Branch promotes the development of young scientists, efficient use of scientific resources, development of new scientific methods, and identification and response to emerging public health crises, such as the increased incidence of maternal mortality in parts of the United States. The Committee encourages NICHD to continue its commitment to this program as well as other population research activities, including support for longitudinal studies and efforts to advance data sharing, all of which promote an understanding of how the demography and health of our Nation are fundamentally intertwined.
National Institute on Aging
Population Research–The Committee applauds NIA for including the population sciences in its Alzheimer’s disease research portfolio. Specifically, the Committee is pleased to learn that NIA is collecting nationally representative data via the Health and Retirement Study to measure cognitive function, which will inform our understanding of national trends and differences. In addition to enhancing data collection, NIA is commended for developing a dementia care research agenda and adding an Alzheimer’s disease research component as part of the Roybal Centers of Translation Research in Behavioral and Social Sciences of Aging, Resource Centers for Minority Aging Research, and Demography and Economics of Aging Centers program. The Committee urges NIA to sustain these activities while also encouraging more research from the field related to the underlying causes of regional health disparities, including differences in U.S. adult mortality rates.
The Population Association of America and Association of Population Centers thanks Senators Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Patty Murray (D-WA), Chairman, Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Heath and Human Services, and Education for including this language in the final report and for supporting population research programs funded by the National Institutes of Health.
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