fas.org (Federation of American Scientists) Day One Project policy proposal for FMT

[Michael Harrop]

Katie McCaskey wrote to me on Mastodon:

Hi! Thanks for connecting. I work for a nonpartisan science think tank, the Federation of American Scientists (fas.org). Have you considered writing a policy proposal in advance of the next US election to support relevant research areas? We're doing that via our Day One Project (https://fas.org/day-one-project/)

I took a look at the link and I'm working on writing up something about FMT/Human Microbes to submit, but I see "What are specific steps the federal government can take to implement your solution?". I'm doubtful that the feds are the best option to handle a project like this.

Katie shared this example:

Revolutionizing Research and Treatments for Infection-Associated Chronic Diseases https://fas.org/publication/revolutionizing-research-chronic-diseases/

I will share what I come up with here before submitting it so people can provide feedback, but feel free to start sharing your thoughts and suggestions.

 

[Michael Harrop]

The Challenge: What is the pressing issue that society is facing? (50–100 words)

Rampant and increasing chronic disease. https://forum.humanmicrobiome.info/threads/chronic-disease-and-general-poor-health-have-been-drastically-increasi.44/


The Opportunity: What is your idea for solving that issue, and why is now the time for it? (50–100 words)

Fecal Microbiota Transplants (FMT), because it's by far the most promising intervention that currently exists. https://humanmicrobiome.info/intro/

The Plan of Action: What are specific steps the federal government can take to implement your solution? (50–150 words)

This is the hard part. I'd welcome feedback on this.

Per the most recent blogs https://www.humanmicrobes.org/blog, the two biggest hurdles are the FDA and finding a donor that meets the ideal criteria. FAS and the federal government could probably help the most in regard to the FDA issue. I don't know how much, or how, they could help in regards to finding one-in-a-million candidates. However, the example that Katie shared discusses lots of potentially-helpful steps such as getting the patient community more involved. That's something I've been unable to do; strangely...

EDIT:
Here's what I have so far:

You could save this project from dying. We're pursuing a likely treatment for most chronic disease but a single patient can't do it on their own. Especially due to the FDA's restrictions.

Hopefully, you would have better success at getting the patient and research communities involved. You should be able to help the project meet the FDA's IND requirements, or rally the patient and research communities to petition the FDA to create more appropriate regulation.

You may be able to help us reach out directly to the most promising candidates - top athletes.



Have you previously published materials related to your idea (e.g., a report, journal article, or blog post)? If so, feel free to share key links here.

https://www.humanmicrobes.org/blog

Donor quality and stool type hypothesis for FMT (Fecal Microbiota Transplant) https://forum.humanmicrobiome.info/threads/donor-quality-and-stool-type-hypothesis-for-fmt-fecal-microbiota-trans.142/

Note that these two link out to more important and relevant posts.

 

[Fmt2024]

The Plan of Action: What are specific steps the federal government can take to implement your solution? (50–150 words)

This is the hard part. I'd welcome feedback on this.

Per the most recent blogs https://www.humanmicrobes.org/blog, the two biggest hurdles are the FDA and finding a donor that meets the ideal criteria. FAS and the federal government could probably help the most in regard to the FDA issue. I don't know how much, or how, they could help in regards to finding one-in-a-million candidates. However, the example that Katie shared discusses lots of potentially-helpful steps such as getting the patient community more involved. That's something I've been unable to do; strangely...

They could help fund and facilitate the advertisement of this project. They could also help in allowing the project to continue how it’s currently being run.