by Dr. Scott Campbell
Former Executive Director and CEO
Foundation for the National Institutes of Health

Remember when the average price of gas was $1.22 per gallon? Yeah, me either. That was in 1996. The same year a first-class postage stamp was $.32. (Now it’s $.45 but I hardly mail letters anymore).

Take a trip down memory lane with me to 1996:

1996: Best Movie Oscar Winner: Braveheart	2011: Best Movie Oscar Winner: The King's Speech
1996: DVDs were launched in Japan	2011: The tablet computer took consumers by storm
1996: Bill Clinton is president	2011: Hillary Clinton is Secretary of State
1996: Prince Charles and Princess Diana divorce after 15 years	2011: Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries divorce after 72 days

1996 was also the year the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health was formed. The FNIH was established by Congress to support the mission of the NIH – improving health through scientific discovery.

In the past 15 years, the Foundation has raised more than $700 million and supported more than 400 projects.

And we’re not stopping anytime soon.

Here’s one example: It takes more than $1 billion, 12 to 15 years, and thousands of patient volunteers to get a single drug to market. The FNIH is trying to lower the cost and expedite that process.

Managed and funded by the FNIH, I-SPY 2 is a clinical trial that treats women who are newly diagnosed with invasive breast cancer. I-SPY 2 has the potential to cut the cost and time it takes for drug development so that safe and effective new treatments can be brought to market more efficiently.

Watch this clip highlighting I-SPY 2. It was featured on NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams.

This is just one of many ways the FNIH supports the NIH and makes a difference.

Stay tuned for additional posts from me and others on the wide array of programs supported by the FNIH.

In the meantime, I want to hear from you. Feel free to send comments below or send an email to info [at] fnih [dot] org.

Special thanks to the following artists: Braveheart poster © Paramount Pictures - Studio, The KIng's speech poster © UK Film Council, dvd player © JVC Pro, tablet computer © maiak.info, photo of Bill Clinton under Creative Commons license, photo of Hillary Clinton © Jeoff Davis, photo of Prince Charles and Princess Diana under Creative Commons license,  photo of Kris Humphries © Bryan Horowitz, photo of Kim Kardashian © Eva Rinaldi