Advocacy

Involvement in shaping national health care policy

One of the most important accomplishments for IFFGD and its spokesperson, Nancy Norton, has been to influence the allocation of funds for research and education and to help change health care policy in a more positive direction. Some of IFFGD's activities affecting these outcomes include:

For many years, Nancy Norton served as the chairperson for the Digestive Disease National Coalition (DDNC), which is an advocacy organization comprised of the major national voluntary and professional societies concerned with digestive diseases. The DDNC focuses on improving public policy related to digestive diseases and increasing public awareness with respect to the many diseases of the digestive system. The DDNC was founded in 1978 and is based in Washington D.C.

In October 2001, Nancy was appointed to a 4-year term on the NIH National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) Advisory Council. This council serves to advise NIDDK about its research portfolio, and to take second level peer review of research grant applications that have been scored by initial review groups. This Council serves as a liaison between the research communities they represent and the NIDDK.

In March 2006 Nancy was appointed to a 4-year term on the NIH Advisory Committee on Research on Women’s Health (ACRWH). The NIH Revitalization Act of 1993 charges the Advisory Committee with advising the Director of the Office of Research on Women’s Health on appropriate research activities to be undertaken by the national research institutes with respect to women’s health research. The committee is composed of up to 18 members who are appointed by the NIH Director.

In April 2006 Nancy was one of sixteen members appointed to the National Commission on Digestive Diseases. The Director of the NIH, Dr. Elias A. Zerhouni, has established a National Commission on Digestive Diseases based on the mutual interest in advancing digestive diseases research shared by the NIH and the Congress. As part of the Research Plan, the Commission will assess the state-of-the-science in digestive diseases and the related NIH research portfolio, with a view toward identifying areas of research challenge and opportunity. The Commission's Research Plan will then guide the NIH – along with the investigative and lay communities – in pursuing important research avenues to combating digestive diseases.