Benjamin “Ben” Cardin - Senior Senator for Maryland, 2007-2024

Senator Cardin receives our grade of an A- for generally strong support of the NIH. His sponsorships indicate a general interest in science and biomedical funding, particularly including the American Cures act.  As a member of the NIH caucus and signatory of both the NIH funding Dear Colleague letter and the BRAIN initiative Dear Colleague letter, he has repeatedly advocated for increasing the NIH budget. Given that the NIH is headquartered in Maryland, his support is perhaps not surprising, but is still appreciated. He could improve his grade by directing more funding specifically to neuroscience causes such as Alzheimer’s funding, and for advocating strongly for the NSF budget as well. 

“At the present time, so many worthwhile grant applications go unmet and unfilled that could discover how we could deal with some of the most dreaded diseases in our country. Funding NIH is in our national interest”

Co-sponsored: S. 1250: American Cures Act

Co-sponsored: S.1338 - Beyond the Box for Higher Education Act of 2019

Co-sponsored: S.946 - Henrietta Lacks Enhancing Cancer Research Act of 2019

Chris Van Hollen - Junior Senator for Maryland, 2017-2022

Senator Van Hollen receives a raw score of over 100 and a resulting A+ grade for exceedingly strong support of NIH, NSF and BRAIN initiative funding. He has proposed and supported numerous bills that increase biomedical research, including those focused on neuroscience. He is additionally a signatory of both the NIH funding Dear Colleague letter and the BRAIN initiative Dear Colleague letter. He has been a strong advocate of increased research funding in his roles on both the Committee on Appropriations and the Committee on the Budget, and has spoken at events sponsored by the congressional neuroscience caucus in the House of Representatives. He additionally authored the Advancing Research for Neurological Diseases Act, which was passed as part of the 21st Century Cures Act. 

“The bill (21st Century Cures Act) allocates over $6 billion in new investments to implement  vital health priorities such as the President's Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative that will help us to better understand the human brain and could lead to cures to diseases such as Alzheimer's.”

Sponsored: S.946 - Henrietta Lacks Enhancing Cancer Research Act of 2019

Co-sponsored: S. 1250: American Cures Act

Co-sponsored: S.1249 - American Innovation Act

Co-sponsored: S.1338 - Beyond the Box for Higher Education Act of 2019

Co-sponsored: S.427 - Autism CARES Act of 2019