AUGUSTA, ME – U.S. Senator Angus King (I-Maine) today announced that he has joined the Senate National Institutes of Health (NIH) Caucus, an informal group of his Senate colleagues who work to promote the significance of NIH while maintaining the United States’ place as global leader in the field of medical research. As a member of the bipartisan group, Senator King will continue to advocate for national health and research investments as a means to save lives and money across the country and in Maine.

“At the National Institutes of Health, our country’s brightest minds are hard at work to provide cutting edge biomedical research in order to combat epidemics and help eradicate the world’s most dangerous diseases.  And right here in Maine, our life and bioscience research communities at UNE, Jackson Laboratories, the Maine IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence and countless others have benefited from NIH grants, which have helped propel many of our medical companies and research institutions to the forefront in their fields,” said Senator King. “As a member of the Senate NIH Caucus, I will continue to support robust funding for the agency’s research because NIH does extraordinary work and it is essential that we invest in our scientists and their research so that they can continue to combat disease here at home and around the world.”

Congressional caucuses are informal groups of members that share a common interest in a particular issue where the group members work together to advance that issue. The Senate NIH Caucus will focus on educating their colleagues on the importance of NIH, and seek a bipartisan strategy to provide steady growth for biomedical research in the future.

The co-chairs of the Senate NIH Caucus are Senators Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill). 

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