» Newsmaker: Dr. Mello goes to Washington
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Newsmaker: Dr. Mello goes to Washington

By Jim Fessenden
UMass Medical School Communications


August 3, 2012

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Pictured left to right are: US Sen. Tom Harkin of Iowa; US Rep. Edward Markey of Massachusetts; US Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts; Craig Mello; and US Rep. James McGovern.

  
Craig C. Mello, PhD, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, Blais University Chair in Molecular Medicine and distinguished professor of molecular medicine and cell biology, talked to the Boston Globe about his recent visit with Congressional members to express his fears about the potential impact looming federal budget cuts would have on biomedical research.

“It’s absolutely wrong to be talking about cutting in this area,” Dr. Mello told the Globe. Mello’s Nobel-winning research was funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health. The research centers on blocking certain functions of genes, a potentially fertile area for finding cures to such diseases as cancer. He currently receives a four-year NIH grant valued at $225,000 a year.

Read the full story here: Researchers fear wallop of mandated budget cuts