Academy of Radiology Research to Launch Advocacy Campaign

The Academy of Radiology Research will make it easy for RSNA 2013 attendees to contact members of Congress to urge support of imaging research.

In what they are calling a “virtual grassroots campaign,” attendees to the academy’s booth can use a computer or their mobile device to instantly email a member of Congress. The emails will be sent at a time when Congress is debating how to fund the government and end sequestration, the academy said.

This year, the sequestration cuts reduced the National Institutes of Health’s budget by 5.3 percent, a cut that will increase to 7.2 percent next year, according to the academy.

“The NIH is the world’s premier medical research institution, but its record of scientific progress and innovation is currently threatened by unprecedented funding cuts. RSNA attendees can help preserve the future of imaging research at the NIH by visiting the Academy’s booth and sending an email to their Member of Congress. These emails take less than a minute to send but they have a large impact on Capitol Hill,” Renee Cruea, the academy’s executive director, said in a statement.