The Health Research Alliance sponsors a national conference every other year in even years, open to a wide variety of funders of health research. The HRA national conference represents the only national forum for non-governmental, non-profit funders of health research and training, including foundations, voluntary health agencies, and disease-specific funders. The 2008 HRA National Conference, "Accelerating Medical Discovery Through Strategic Philanthropy," will be held March 4-6, 2008, at the Marriott Wardman Park in Washington, D.C. The conference has three main themes:
- New Science for Discovery and Translation: Learn about new scientific advances that will affect the funding of biomedical and health research from Francis Collins, M.D., Ph.D, of the National Human Genome Research Institute, Leroy Hood, Ph.D. of the Institute for Systems Biology, and William Haseltine, Ph.D.of the Haseltine Foundation, formerly of Human Genome Sciences.
- Strategic Philanthropy: Learn how philanthropic leaders are charting a course for their organizations from a panel of CEOs, how to balance a portfolio of funding; and hear Mark Kramer, co-founder of Harvard's Center for Effective Philanthropy, describe how funders' strategies have evolved in a changing world.
- Developing Best Practices in Health Research Grantmaking: With Nancy Andrews, M.D., Ph.D., of the Duke University School of Medicine, examine current issues in careers and training. Select from a variety of breakout sessions on training issues, grant management, grants that support health research funding infrastructure, and issues in international biomedical research grantmaking.
2008 HRA National Conference Program Committee:
- Co-Chairs:
- William Galey, Ph.D., Howard Hughes Medical Institute
- Marc Hurlbert, Ph.D., Avon Foundation
Members: - Maria Carrillo, Ph.D., Alzheimer's Association
- Lynne Garner, Ph.D., The Donaghue Foundation
- Sharon Hesterlee, Ph.D., Muscular Dystrophy Association
- Sally McNagny, M.D., M.P.H., The Medical Foundation
- Concepcion Nierras, Ph.D., Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International
- William Read, Ph.D., The Flinn Foundation
- Nancy Sung, Ph.D., Burroughs Wellcome Fund
- Melanie Turner, M.P.H., American Heart Association
- Kate Ahlport, M.S.P.H., Health Research Alliance, Inc.
Health Research Alliance 2006 National Conference
"Building Strategic Partnerships to Advance Health Research"
The 2006 HRA National Conference, "Building Strategic Partnerships to Advance Health Research" held at the Westin Grand Hotel in Washington, D.C. on May 3-4, 2006, was attended by representatives of over 50 funding organizations as well as by representatives of government agencies, universities, and other organizations. The conference proceedings provide a summary of each conference session. You may download the final annotated agenda here.
An overview of the agenda:
Wednesday, May 3:
- The Changing Landscape for Medical Research (Gail Cassell, Ph.D.; Jeffrey Trent, Ph.D.)
- New Initiatives in Clinical and Translational Research (Barbara Alving, M.D., Janet Woodcock, M.D.)
- Breakout sessions on Funding Partnerships (focusing on translational research models, human capital issues, and community issues)
- Translating Research into Practice (Carolyn Clancy, M.D.)
- Concurrent sessions on operational issues of interest to funders of health research
- Closing Plenary: Mechanisms for Accelerating Drug Development for Orphan Diseases (Tom Caskey, M.D.)
The previous Alliance national conference, held in March of 2004,"Partnering to Advance Health Research: Philanthropy's Role," was attended by representatives of over 70 organizations that fund health research. Keynoted by Dr. Elias Zerhouni, Director of NIH, Dr. Richard Carmona, US Surgeon General, and Dr. Clement Bezold of the Institute for Alternative Futures, the meeting examined how different types of partnerships can move health research forward from the laboratory bench to the end result of improved health outcomes. In the time that has elapsed since that conference, the funding environment has become more challenging, and the need for creative partnerships has increased.

