The Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research issued a statement calling on negotiators to include emergency funding for medical research in the potential COVID-19 relief measure and to complete the FY1 appropriations process as quickly as possible. The group says that emergency funding for NIH-funded medical research is necessary to help develop diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines for COVID-19, and support the nation’s research enterprise as it recovers from the pandemic. “Without action, this pandemic will have long lasting effects even once the immediate crisis abates, given the delays it will cause for ongoing research and the chilling impact on the scientific workforce,” the letter says.