Summary of Recent Hill Visits
On May 15, CU Anschutz Vice Chancellor for Research Tom Flaig, MD, met with representatives from the Advanced Research Policy Agency for Health (ARPA-H) and the White House Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy to highlight ways the Anschutz Medical Campus is conducting rapid and timely medical research. On May 17, professors Kevin Gifford and Elliot Eichen of the Wireless Interdisciplinary Research Group in CU Boulder’s College of Engineering and Applied Science met with Colorado and committee congressional staff to discuss spectrum sharing and weather satellite protection. On May 22, CU Boulder professor Roger Pielke, Jr. testified at a U.S. Senate Budget Committee hearing titled “Droughts, Dollars, and Decisions: Water Scarcity in a Changing Climate.”

CU Denver | Anschutz Medical Campus Regains Hispanic-Serving Status
The U.S. Department of Education recently redesignated the University of Colorado Denver | Anschutz Medical Campus as a Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI), regaining the designation originally obtained in 2021. HSI status is obtained when a university’s undergraduate full-time enrollment is comprised of at least 25% Hispanic students and a concentration of Pell-eligible students. HSI designation allows for access to competitive federal grant funding that will fund opportunities including student success programming, faculty and staff hiring, and additional programs. Read more about the designation at CU Denver News and the CU Anschutz Newsroom.

CU Denver AANAPISI meets with HHS & WHAANHPI
On May 28, during Asian & Pacific Islander Heritage Month, CU Denver faculty and staff heading up the Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution (AANAPISI) met with Health and Human Services (HHS) Region 8 Director, Lily Griego, and other HHS staff along with White House staff and local representatives from the White House Initiative on Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders (WHIAANHPI). The meeting highlighted the work the CU Denver AANAPISI team is doing, and how HHS and WHIAANHI can support CU Denver.

CU in DC Science Policy Course
On May 14, CU Federal Relations hosted CU in DC’s Global Seminar on Science Policy at the Washington, DC office. The three-week Maymester course taught by Joe Pesce, program director at the National Science Foundation, allows CU students to learn about science policy in the nation’s capital. Federal Relations staff discussed the legislative process and the role our office plays in advancing federal science policy.  

Summary of Recent Congressional Reports
Congress recently released several reports relevant to CU interests:

• On May 9, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), ranking member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released a white paper on proposals to improve the National Institutes of Health (NIH). All four CU campuses responded to a request for information (RFI) sent out by Sen. Cassidy in preparation for the white paper. The report can be read on the HELP Committee Newsroom, and CU’s response to the RFI can be read on the CU Government Affairs site.
• On May 17, the Bipartisan Senate AI Working Group released a report detailing a “roadmap” for artificial intelligence (AI) policy in the United States, calling for increased investment in AI and detailing specific policy proposals concerning AI. For more information, read Driving US Innovation in Artificial Intelligence and a one-pager released by the committee.
• On May 24, a bipartisan working group from the Senate Finance Committee, led by Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR), and joined by Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO), released a proposal detailing potential changes to the Medicare Graduate Medical Education (GME) program in an attempt to fix gaps and shortages in the physician workforce. For more information, read the Bipartisan Medicare GME Working Group Draft Proposal Outline and Questions for Consideration.