TOWARD A NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF HEALTH: THE DEVELOPMENT OF FEDERAL BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH POLICY, 1900-1930

This study traces the development of biomedical research in the United States Public Health Service from 1900 through 1930. It focuses on the legislative history of two bills enacted by the United States Congress in 1930 that established a National Institute of Health and provided for its development. The discussions surrounding the bills chronicle a growing acceptance on the part of Congress, the public, and the scientific community for federal patronage of biomedical research. The Ransdell bill, introduced in 1926 by Louisiana Senator Joseph Eugene Ransdell and promoted by Georgia chemist Charles Holmes Herty, created a National Institute of Health in the United States Public Health Service. The Parker bill, introduced the same year by New York Representative James S. Parker, was supported by the National Health Council, a non-governmental agency composed of representatives of many health organizations. The Parker bill established procedures for the orderly expansion of research in the Service, authorized increased income and prerogatives for pharmacists, dentists, sanitary engineers, and some scientific specialists, and fostered better coordination among many federal agencies that engaged in public health activities. Both the Ransdell and Parker bills were before Congress during the significant transition period of the late 1920s. At this time the biomedical community was expanding rapidly and enjoyed widespread public confidence because of its achievement in controlling some infectious diseases. As the principal source for research funds in the early twentieth century, the private sector became strained to keep up with the demands of the scientific community, and many people began to look to the federal government as a potential funding source. Enactment of the Ransdell and Parker bills served as bridges between the miniscule federal involvement in medical research in 1900 and the massive support afforded in the second half of the twentieth century. Major sources for this study included the Charles Holmes Herty Papers at Emory University, the Hugh S. Cumming Papers at the University of Virginia, and the Records of the Public Health Service at the National Archives.