WASHINGTON, D.C. - The 21st Century Cures initiative continues today as Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) hosts an event in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The roundtable features an all-star lineup including the Director of the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Francis Collins. Prior to the event this morning, Dr. Collins and Upton discussed the important initiative with Kalamazoo’s CBS affiliate WWMT Newschannel 3.
“What Fred’s done here is to put together, in a bipartisan way, an effort to identify what are some of those roadblocks and what can we do about them. And this is a remarkable, encouraging kind of development for all of us who are trying to speed up the process of getting to cures," said Dr. Collins.
Kicking off the event at the Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School of Medicine in downtown Kalamazoo, Michigan, Upton said, “Whether it’s cutting edge Parkinson’s research happening at the Van Andel Institute, the potential game-changing diabetes treatments under development at Metabolic Solutions, or the breakthroughs that continue to happen at Pfizer and Stryker, our region of Michigan has proven it’s at the forefront of advances in the life sciences field."
Upton stated, “We intend to release a Cures legislative discussion draft in early January 2015 and will look to swiftly move the legislation early in the next Congress."
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Learn more about the 21st Century Cures initiative HERE.
