(This analysis is a preview of the
VA section in the forthcoming AAAS Report XXXII: Research and Development FY
2008, a comprehensive look at the President's budget for R&D in FY 2008.
This analysis contains AAAS estimates of VA R&D. More tables and continually
updated supplemental materials on R&D in the FY 2008 budget can be found on
the AAAS R&D Web site at http://www.aaas.org/spp/rd.)
Highlights
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The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) R&D portfolio would stay flat at
$822 million in FY 2008, an increase of just $4 million or 0.5 percent (see Table
II-19). Planned funding from other sources would bring total VA-performed
R&D to $1.8 billion.
VA R&D in the FY 2008 Budget
The
Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is one of the 10 largest R&D funding agencies
in the federal government, with the 8th largest R&D portfolio in
the FY 2008 budget, but receives relatively little attention because its entire
R&D investment goes to its own nationwide network of VA hospitals.
VA’s
Medical and Prosthetic Research is a longstanding program of research aimed at
improving health care for veterans through research on injuries and illnesses
with special relevance to veterans. All scientists and engineers who receive VA
funds must be VA employees, and thus its entire R&D investment takes place
in VA hospitals and laboratories, although many VA investigators hold joint appointments
with academic institutions, and much of VA research is collaborative with other
institutions. Three-quarters of the roughly
3,000 investigators supported by VA are physician-scientists doing both clinical
practice and research. More than half of all VA research is for investigator-initiated
research projects, with the remainder a mix of centers of excellence, career development,
and service-directed research.
The
Medical and Prosthetic Research budget account is the core of VA’s research effort,
but it funds just a portion of VA’s total R&D, for support of direct R&D
costs in a $411 million request for FY 2008. Support costs, infrastructure, and
other indirect costs as well as the salaries of clinician-researchers who both
treat patients and perform research are funded out of other VA medical care accounts.
After including support costs, total federally funded VA R&D would be $822
million in FY 2008, up just 0.5 percent from the final 2007 funding level (see
Table II-19). The effects of inflation would result
in the funding of approximately 2,094 research projects, down by nearly 100 from
last year.
VA
classifies its R&D program into four major areas: biomedical laboratory science,
rehabilitation research, health services research, and clinical science. The other
line item, the largest one, is for research support costs. Biomedical laboratory
science is the largest direct R&D category with $231 million in FY 2008 for
investigator-initiated research projects in areas with special relevance for veterans
such as aging, chronic disease, and environmental exposures. Rehabilitation research
would receive $51 million for science and technology to improve quality of life
for the disabled, such as improved prosthetics. Health services research ($62
million in FY 2008) focuses on improving the effectiveness and efficiency of health
care services and translating research into clinical practice. Finally, clinical
science research would receive $67 million next year to fund clinical trials and
other medical research utilizing the large patient network in VA medical facilities.
Within these categories, the top research areas for FY 2008 would be: mental illness,
health systems, cancer, aging, and heart disease, all areas with particular relevance
to the veteran population.
VA
scientists also compete for research funding from other agencies (such as NIH
and DOD), foundations, and industry. Next year, VA projects that $975 million
in R&D funding will come from other sources, mostly
from VA scientists winning federal research grants, resulting in a total VA portfolio
of $1.8 billion (up 3.0 percent) when combined with VA appropriations (see Table
II-19).
Figure
1. (click on the image for PDF)
VA
federal R&D has flattened out in recent years even as the overall VA budget
has grown (see Figure 1). After peaking in 2004, VA R&D fell in 2005 because
of tough budgetary pressures for domestic spending in general and veterans spending
in particular, and have remained roughly even in constant dollars since then.
On the brighter side, VA scientists are increasingly competitive for external
funds; from roughly half VA and half non-VA funding a few years ago, external
funding has pulled ahead to become a majority of all VA-performed R&D. (Note:
Years ago, VA did not count support, salary, and infrastructure costs in its R&D.
The big jump in FY 1997 represents VA’s decision to add in these costs beginning
that year.)
(More materials on R&D in the FY 2008 budget, historical
data and charts, and more information on AAAS Report XXXII: Research and Development
FY 2008, can be found on the AAAS R&D Web site at http://www.aaas.org/spp/rd.)
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March 1, 2007
AAAS R&D Budget and Policy Program
1200 New York Avenue,
NW
Washington, DC 20005
(202) 326-6607
AAAS R&D Web site: http://www.aaas.org/spp/rd
