Nice Save: The Unexpected Benefits of Federally-Funded Health Research

Too often people think health research is a straightforward process: identify a problem, study it, develop a solution and deliver it to the public.  Science, however, is rarely that simple.

One of the overlooked stories in biomedical research is the story of unintended consequences.  Or, more accurately, the story of unintended benefits.  That’s the story that we wanted to tell through the new advertising campaign designed by Burness Communications for Research!America.

In an age of shrinking budgets and with looming budget sequestration that would include global health research and development in across-the-board budget cuts, Research!America’s goal is to remind policymakers that life-saving successes can come from the most unexpected places – and that funding is critical to make them happen.  A tuberculosis vaccine that fights bladder cancer.  A failed cancer drug that is now used around the world to treat HIV/AIDS.  These are among the stories that we featured in a four-part ad series that launched in Politico and is now running in metro cars on Washington, DC’s red line.

See all four of our ads below and click here to go to Research!America’s action center to send a message to your Members of Congress asking them to prevent an 8% budget cut to health research in 2013.