Introduction to the national urology research agenda: a roadmap for priorities in urological disease research.

摘要

The American Urological Association Foundation launched an ambitious initiative to define national research priorities for the field of urology. This major effort was commissioned by the AUA Foundation Board of Directors to define urology research priorities provided by the urology research community, reverse the decline in urology research funding and progress, and promote an increase in urological disease research funding and activity. The end point is the creation of the AUA Foundation National Urology Research Agenda: 2010 (NURA) which will serve as a roadmap for articulating basic and clinical research as well as the research infrastructure priorities in urology, thereby promoting substantial improvements in patient care. There is a tremendous need for such an initiative and we have much to gain from this effort. Most basic research focusing on human health in the United States is funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The NIH budget has been essentially flat for the last 9 years and, when inflation is considered, the budget has actually declined significantly in real terms since 2003. This is a large contraction that has negatively impacted most academic fields that rely on NIH funding.