"Much of the success in improving the nations health is attributable to research advances furthering the understanding of human biology," Zerhouni wrote. "The constant battle against illness and disease, however, cannot be limited to biological factors but has to include behavioral and social factors as well."
According to Zerhounis letter, various NIH directors and staff reviewed the relevance and appropriateness of "hundreds" of grants as a result of the inquiry. In his correspondence to the committee members, Zerhouni included rationale for the continued funding of three specific grants and a summary of the peer-review process and quality assurance in grant review.
Those three grants included an analysis of HIV/AIDS prevalence among long-haul truck drivers in the United States; a conference grant for a meeting on sexual psychophysiology, the relationship between the physical and psychological factors underlying sexual functioning and behavior; and an examination of longitudinal trends in the sexual behavior of older men.
"NIH supports research into the causes and consequences of sexual behaviors due to the substantial burden on society of the related diseases and dysfunction that affect millions," the letter stated. "Clearly, this has to be considered as one of our highest priorities in light of the enormous suffering and costs of illnesses associated with sexual behavior. Even so, the NIH investment in this area of research is only a very small part of our overall budget."
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