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Take Action: SGO Needs Your Help on Two Important Requests

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Grassroots Talking Points (July 2025)

Take Action on FY 2026 Appropriations

The President’s fiscal year (FY) 2026 Budget Request proposes significant reductions in health funding and research, including the elimination and consolidation of some critical programs and activities. Specifically, the administration is proposing a 40 percent cut to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), a reorganization of the NIH’s 27 institutes and centers (ICs), and the relocation of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion programs.

The House is continuing to advance its appropriations bills; however, the Labor-HHS subcommittee markup is not expected to take place until after lawmakers return from August recess. The Senate will begin its work later this summer. Therefore, now is a critical time to reach out to your legislators to advocate for funding for gynecologic cancer research and care.

SGO needs your help! Please take action now by sending a message to your members of Congress urging them to support full and robust appropriations for gynecologic cancer research and care programs in FY 2026. This includes rejecting the administration’s proposed FY 2026 funding levels and preventing the reorganization of HHS agencies until Congressional and stakeholder feedback is considered.

 

Support Defense Health Research for Gynecologic Cancers

Before adjourning for the August recess, the House and Senate advanced their Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Defense appropriations bills with approval by the full House and the Senate Appropriations Committee. Although both bills provided increases for the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program (CDMRP), neither bill restored funding to the FY 2024 level of $1.5 million. SGO remains concerned that failure to restore or increase funding above that level would significantly disrupt research that spans basic biology through drug development, diagnostics, and clinical trials, including for gynecologic cancers. This research improves the health of our nation’s armed services, as well as veterans, military families, and the general public.

When Congress returns to Washington in September, they will have 28 days to finalize FY 2026 before the new fiscal year begins on October 1. The time is now to urge your members of Congress to provide robust funding for the CDMRP, including the Ovarian Cancer Research Program and the Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program, which funds research on endometrial cancer.

Please take action now to protect high-impact research for gynecologic cancers!

Capitol Hill Day

SGO’s Capitol Hill Day is an opportunity for its SGO Congressional Ambassadors and our patient advocate partners to educate Members of Congress on gynecologic cancer, inform them about what is happening in their home state or district, and present solutions to current challenges in gynecologic cancer care. SGO advocates share patient care experiences, thank offices for breakthroughs and successes made possible by prior year’s efforts, and explain what Congress can do to continue to support progress toward our shared vision of eradicating gynecologic cancers.

For questions about Capitol Hill Day or how to participate in an upcoming event, please contact Katie Martino, SGO Senior Manager of Governance and Clinical Practice.

Read about past Capitol Hill Day events in the links below, and review more photos from past events here.

 

Health Policy & Legislative Affairs Committee

Ryan Spencer, MD, MS, Chair
Allison Saiz, MD, Vice Chair
Rana Aliani, MD
Danika Barry, MD, MPH, MPP
Susan Folsom, MD
Tilley Jenkins Vogel, MD
Emily MacArthur, MD
Larissa Mattei, MD
Rachel Miller-Garcia

 

Marisa Moroney, MD
Anna Jo Smith, MD, MPH
Monica Avila, MD
Vanessa Hill, MPH
Aparna Kailasam, MD
John Wallbillich, MD
Mark Shahin, MD, HPSE Chair
Emily Ko, MD, MSCR, Board Liaison

Coding & Reimbursement Committee

Kevin Schuler, MD, MBA, Chair
Stephen Bush, MD, Vice Chair
Allison Barrie, MD
Leslie Bradford, MD
Lee-may Chen, MD
Carolyn Haunschild, MD
Amelia Jernigan, MD
Kimberly Levinson, MD, MPH
Andreea Newtson, MD

 

Kaitlin Nicholson, MD
Sameer Sharma, MD, MBA
Kristin Taylor, MD
Bridget Toomey, MS, CPC
Katherine Tucker, MD
Kristien Zeligs, MD
Mark Shahin, MD, HPSE Chair
Emily Ko, MD, MSCR, Board Liaison

Quality Care Committee

Margaret Liang, MD, Chair
Emma Barber, MD, Vice Chair
Benjamin Albright, MD, MS
Zenas Chang, MD
Ashley Haggerty, MD, MSCE
Courtney Penn, MD
Courtney Riedinger, MD

 

Katherine Hicks-Courant, MD
Katharine Esselen, MD, MBA
Rachel Mojdehbakhsh, MD
Sarah Paraghamian, MD
Jolyn Taylor, MD, MPH
Mark Shahin, MD, HPSE Chair
Emily Ko, MD, MSCR, Board Liaison

Governance and Clinical  Practice Staff Contacts

JESSICA OLDHAM

Director of Governance and Clinical Practice
CONTACT JESSICA

 

KATIE MARTINO, MPH, CPH

Senior Manager of Governance and Clinical Practice

CONTACT KATIE

 

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