When infected brain material was incubated with the right kind of tissue culture, whole measles virus was recovered. This opens up the possibility that Jacob-Creutzfeld, kuru, various diseases of the central nervous system prevalent in animals, and perhaps Parkinson's disease, multiple sclerosis and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis are caused by viruses which are very difficult to detect. If these viruses can be identified, there is a very good chance that means will be found to protect against them. Senator MAGNUSON. You funded practically every one of your noncompeting, grants. There were 874 applications to review and you approved 859, although you renegotiated them downwards about 15 percent which amounted to a cut of $5,131,000. But you did continue funding for most of them. Dr. MACNICHOL. Yes, except when somebody dies or moves, or something like that. Senator MAGNUSON. On the competing grants, 542 were approved and 419 funded. But you funded a total amount of $49.1 million in both categories. Is that correct? Dr. MACNICHOL. Yes, sir. Senator MAGNUSON. Which is about 50 percent of your budget. COMPARISON OF NINDS GRANT FUNDING WITH THAT OF OTHER INSTITUTES Senator MAGNUSON. That is lower than most, isn't it? The ratio of grants to the total appropriations? Dr. MACNICHOL. Than most of the other institutes? Senator MAGNUSON. Yes. Dr. MARSTON. That is correct. Senator MAGNUSON. For instance, in the Arthritis Institute, $78.1 million was expended on research grants in 1970, as against the appropriation of $132 million. If you compare the grants to the appropriations, percentagewise, there are more grants in most of the other institutes than in your department, or at least in these two the difference is about 10 percent. Why is that? Is that because you have more people in-house? Dr. MACNICHOL. I wasn't aware until now that this was so, sir. Senator MAGNUSON. What do you do with the other half of the money that you don't put out in grants? Dr. MACNICHOL. We have a rather large contract program. For example, the perinatal study has been a very expensive one for several years. Senator MAGNUSON. I wish you would put that in the record, because this sticks out. Otherwise, the assumption might be that you are spending half of your appropriation in-house. Dr. MACNICHOL. I assure you, sir, we are not doing that. Senator MAGNUSON. How many people do you have in your institute? Dr. MACNICHOL. We have 599 full-time permanent employees. Senator MAGNUSON. Place in the record what you do with that other half, so it won't stick out like a sore thumb. (The information supplied follows:) The following table compares regular research grant programs to the total appropriation for each of the Institutes. It is to be noted that NINDS has the fourth highest ratio of regular grants to total appropriation. Percent of Regular NIH Research Grants Projects In addition to funding $46,876,000 for regular research grants, the Institute also supported general research support grants amounting to $5,477,000, specialized and categorical clinical research centers and evaluation grants amounting to $3,120,000, and training and fellowship awards amounting to $16,956,000. This analysis shows that total grant funds amount to $72,429,000, which is 75.2% of our total appropriation. In addition, we awarded contracts amounting to $7,100,000. RESEARCH GRANTS Senator MAGNUSON. What is the total you expect to spend on research grants in 1971? Dr. MACNICHOL. I think it is broken down in detail in the President's budget. Senator MAGNUSON. $54.6 million for 1971, and then you have nearly $17 million for fellowships and training grants in there. Dr. MARSTON. Yes, sir; that is right. Then there is a $16 million item for laboratory clinical research. Senator MAGNUSON. I wanted the record cleared up because there is a difference. Do you every study marine animals? Dr. MACNICHOL. Yes. Senator MAGNUSON. You do have studies for that? MARINE BIOLOGY Senator MAGNUSON. Do they go into the schools that have some form of oceanography or marine biology department? Dr. MACNICHOL. Yes, sir. We support a number of private programs at the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, Mass. In fact, I have been working there most of the summer. We also support research in other marine biology organizations, because marine animals offer particular opportunities for studying certain phases of nervous activity. Senator MAGNUSON. Particularly nonvertebrae ? Dr. MACNICHOL. Yes. For example, the squid has a very large nervous fiber and has been instrumental in our studies of how nerves conduct, and also how nerve impulses are transmitted from one cell to another through synaptic interaction. Because of these large nerve cells, we can do things in marine animals and study things that we couldn't possibly study in other kinds of organisms. The shark and the dolphin also provide excellent opportunities to study the nervous system. Senator MAGNUSON. Is there anything to the report I once heard that from studies they have made in marine biology, they don't find the incidence of cancer in nonvertebrae marine life, whereas they do in the vertebrae? Dr. MACNICHOL. I wasn't aware of that. I think most organisms, even plants, have various kinds of neoplastic growth. Senator MAGNUSON. Someone was pursuing that once out at the laboratory in the University of Washington. It was also marine biology. Dr. MACNICHOL. That is very interesting. Most scientists agree that nonvertebrate marine animals get neoplasms, particularly mollusks and arthropods. Numerous varieties of fish get neoplasms; for example, lymphosarcoma in northern pike. There is a monograph on this subject as a result of a symposium held in 1968 by the Smithsonian Institution. Senator MAGNUSON. What studies are you engaged in, in marine biology? Dr. MACNICHOL. I will supply that for the record. (The information follows:) NINDS has 18 currently active grants in the area of marine biology, with awards approximating $689,000. Of these grants, the following have particular relevance to fundamental marine biological research problems. "Studies in Comparative Neurophysiology"-University of California, San Diego, Calif. "Neural Geometry in Crustacean Ganglia"-University of California, San Diego, Calif. "Echo-ranging Signals"-Stanford Research Institute, Palo Alto, California. "Laboratory of Neurobiology"-University of Puerto Rico; "Central Nervous Function Related to Endocrine State"-University of Washington NINDS further supports two contracts with the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, Massachusets. One supports studies on the location, capture, and handling of squid and other marine forms, and the other funds the supply of specimens to the approximate 100 investigators and research fellows who engage in research at MBL during the summer months. Most of these investigators are funded by NIH grants or direct operations. Other agencies who support and participate in these efforts are the Department of the Interior, AEC, American Heart Association, National Council to Combat Blindness, DOD, and the Medical Research Council of Canada. STUDY ON MONGOLOIDS Senator MAGNUSON. Back to L-dopa, you have had extensive research as far as Parkinson's disease is concerned. Do you remember last year we heard of the project you have at Georgetown on mongoloids. Do you remember that? Dr. MACNICHOL. Yes, sir; this is conducted by Dr. Mary Coleman. Senator MAGNUSON. Is that still going on? Dr. MACNICHOL. I believe it is, sir. Senator MAGNUSON. Has there been any further information? She claimed she was having some success with it. The reason she was here last year is, you remember, we had some problems about whether she had a grant and whether it was going to be cut. She presented some evidence that her research was being fairly successful in the treatment of mongoloids. Dr. MACNICHOL. At least to the extent that the babies are not completely limp, and so on. They have better muscle tone. I will supply more detailed information on this for the record. (The information follows:) Dr. Coleman's award was made for a 24-month period from May 1, 1969 to April 30, 1971, so it is still in progress. A progress report will probably not be made until the completion of her study. Dr. Coleman treats 50 mongoloid children at Children's Hospital, Washington, D.C. with a chemical known as 5-Hydroxytryptamine or 5-HTP, which is transformed by the brain into serotonin, a chemical carried in the blood stream. Infants treated with 5-HTP have exhibited improved muscle tone, being able to arch their spines. Their reflexes are brisk and easily elicited. Dr. Coleman reports that two-thirds of the children in the program who are over 3-years-old are enrolled in normal nursery schools. They have an understandable speaking vocabulary, are toilet-trained, and are not recognized as retarded children. However, the project is in its infancy, and any statement about intelligence would be preliminary. Dr. Coleman says she will not be ready to make scientific claims about the value of 5-HTP treatment until 3 groups of children reach 5-years of age and show the same results. RESEARCH-GRANT FUND REDUCTION Senator MAGNUSON. Have you reduced research-grant funds affecting the research efforts particularly in stroke, head and spinal cord injuries, or regeneration of the central nervous system? Dr. MACNICHOL. We have quite a bit going on in all of these areas, and we are protecting them. Senator MAGNUSON. Have you reduced them? Dr. MACNICHOL. I believe we had to cut out one stroke center. Dr. MACNICHOL. I don't have that information with me. (The information follows:) The Stroke Center at Wayne State University, Detroit, Mich., is being phased out. ANTICONVULSANT DRUGS Senator MAGNUSON. You talked a little about epilepsy. What are you doing in testing new anticonvulsant drugs? Dr. MACNICHOL. I mentioned at the beginning of my report, that we have several contract programs for the grand mal type of epilepsy, the petit mal type which affects children primarily, and the so-called partial seizures. Senator MAGNUSON. Have you made any progress in the neurootologic diseases of the ear? According to testimony this morning, they are quite prevalent? Dr. MACNICHOL. There are a number of grants in this area to otolaryngology departments in medical centers and universities throughout the country. Senator MAGNUSON. But you are working on them? You have some grants? Dr. MACNICHOL. Yes, we do have some grants in this area, and we intend some day to set up an internal laboratory of neurotology. But this will have to wait until we can work it into the program. Senator MAGNUSON. You will remember that last year-I don't know whether Dr. Marston told us, but we talked about the project in which you were thinking about a useful substitute for vision in blind people and hearing in the deaf with some sort of mechanical stimulation of the brain. Is that still operating? Dr. MACNICHOL. We started five contracts on this now. They are in operation. Results are already beginning to come in. Senator MAGNUSON. It was comparatively new, as I remember, last year. Dr. MACNICHOL. Yes. Final negotiations were just completed a couple of months ago. STUDY OF REGENERATION OF DAMAGE TO CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM Senator MAGNUSON. We had some outside witnesses that were concerned about the commitment of funds to study the regeneration of damage to the central nervous system. I asked you that, but did you go into that in enough detail? Dr. MACNICHOL. I haven't gone into it in detail. I could submit information for the record. Senator MAGNUSON. Yes, please. There seems to be some concern about that. (The information follows:) |