Following a recent article in AAMCNews about the costs-actual costs and costs to research progress-of halting all but the most essential medical research at labs across the country, I thought it would be useful to share 2 resources the AAMC has developed to help explain the true costs of medical research and, particularly, the concept of operating/indirect costs. This video and this infographic illustrate the concepts quite clearly. These would be particularly helpful to anyone explaining research costs to funders, donors, policymakers, or board members.
Of related interest, in the latest episode of AAMC's podcast series, National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Francis Collins discusses the importance of support for medical research--especially basic science research--because "some of the most obscure-sounding research has turned out to be the place where the insight happened that changed everything."
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Nicole Buckley
Communications Strategist
Association of American Medical Colleges
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