Bethesda, MD - The Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH), in partnership with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Institute of Medicine (IOM) and the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) of the Russian Federation, is facilitating the first planning meeting for the U.S.-Russia Scientific Forum in Moscow, Russia later this month.

The U.S.-Russia Scientific Forum was created as a result of the 2009 U.S.-Russia Bi-Lateral Presidential Commission, which highlighted greater cooperation in the health sciences as a key theme. The Forum will promote and facilitate broader research collaboration in the biomedical and behavioral sciences between the U.S. and Russian scientific communities, with the goal of improving public health. Specifically, the Forum will strengthen joint research activities related to disease control, treatment and prevention, clinical and translational research, and regulatory science, and the development of new health technologies.

"We are excited to develop a joint research agenda based on common interests that will stimulate US-Russian scientific collaborations and generate discoveries to improve the health of people everywhere," said Dr. Roger I. Glass, Director of Fogarty International Center at NIH. "By encouraging the free flow of information we hope to share best practices in biomedical research and speed the progress of discovery."
The U.S.-Russia Forum was established through the FNIH, with a $1.27 million gift from Eli Lilly and Company as the founding private partner, and Fogarty International Center (FIC) and the NIH Clinical Center (CC) as the lead NIH participants. The Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S. will also be an active participant of the program. The Forum planning meeting facilitated by the FNIH and hosted at the RAS will be held in Moscow on April 25-26, 2011.

"Through public-private, collaborative partnerships, FNIH supports a wide range of initiatives that advance scientific research, train scientists and clinical researchers, educate the public and generate support for medical discovery", said Dr. Scott Campbell, Executive Director and CEO of the Foundation for the NIH. "The U.S.-Russia Scientific Forum is an example of how FNIH is working to engage global stakeholders to participate in transformative public-private research partnerships to improve human health."

Active participation of the private sector will be critical in facilitating collaborations and engaging the best and brightest scientists in the U.S. and Russia. FNIH has engaged with a wide range of U.S. and Russian-based companies interested in broader U.S. - Russian collaboration in behavioral and biomedical research. Those participating in the first organizational meeting include Abbott, Amgen, American Chamber of Commerce in Russia, Amway, Bach Pharma, Becton Dickinson, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Boston Scientific, Coca-Cola, Eli Lilly and Company, GalenBio, Genzyme, Johnson & Johnson, MedBioPharm, PepsiCo, Pfizer and Worldwide Clinical Trials.

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