U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh wants to triple breast-cancer research funding

Speaking at an April 5 reception for the recipients of the Marvella Bayh Memorial Scholarship at IU’s Cancer Research Institute, U.S. Sen. Evan Bayh proposed a tripling of breast-cancer research funding. Bayh’s proposed legislation also calls for removing Medicare co-payments from colorectal and breast-cancer screenings, which will allow new Medicare patients to be reimbursed for cancer screenings. \n“Doctors at labs like IU’s Cancer Research Institute have made great progress in the fight against cancer since my mother died nearly 30 years ago,” Bayh said at the reception.\nAfter being diagnosed with breast cancer in 1971, Bayh’s mother, Marvella Bayh, died eight years later. Since her death, the senator has worked on other legislation, including a bill to increase funding for breast-cancer and cervical-cancer screening by more than $70 million dollars. The bill is waiting approval from President Bush.\nSen. Bayh’s spokeswoman Meghan Keck has high hopes that both bills will be approved.\n“It’s hard to say anything is a sure thing in Washington,” Keck said. “Hopefully, these bills are something democrats and republicans can come by. Fighting for cancer is not a partisan issue.” \nSteve Williams, Director of the IU-Purdue University at Indianapolis Cancer Center, supports Bayh’s bills to increase funding for research but sees other areas where funding is needed.\n“I would support significant increases in National Cancer Institute funding,” Williams said. “Between 1999 and 2003 NIA funding doubled, but since then it’s been relatively flat. It has recently declined in purchasing power because of biomedical inflation.”\nStill, Williams backs Bayh’s past and present initiatives, including his support for the Breast Cancer Research stamp and his goal to eliminate cancer deaths by 2015.\n“Any increase for scientific research is good and certainly an increase in breast-cancer research is a good thing,” Williams said. \nSince becoming senator of Indiana, Bayh has sponsored a number of bills to improve breast-cancer funding and research including a measure that would require health insurance programs and policies to include coverage for mammograms for women 35 and older. He has also co-sponsored legislation to allow states to give medical assistance to low-income women.\n“Bayh has always placed a priority on fiscal responsibility,” Keck said. “He always tries to find ways to offset medical costs in a responsible way.”\nEstablished in 1979, the Marvella Bayh Memorial Scholarship awards grants to students, specifically females, who have an interest in breast-cancer research and treatment. This year’s recipients, Stephanie Tieken and Elizabeth Gough, both from Indiana, join more than 65 female medical students participating in cancer research. The scholarship has provided more than $130,000 to first-year female medical students.\nAfter completing research on leukemia during her undergraduate years at Ball State University, Gough plans to study liver cancer this summer. For Gough, who was recommended for the scholarship by the summer research program directors, cancer has always been a career focus. \n“I will be at the cancer center through the summer,” Gough said. “For long-term goals I plan on finishing medical school and hopefully down the road work at Riley pediatric oncology.”\nFor Williams, who attended the April 5 reception and personally knows the very first recipient, the impact of the Marvella Bayh Scholarship is immeasurable. \n“I know many women who have received this scholarship,” Williams said. “For many, this scholarship has contributed to women entering the field of cancer research in a positive way.”