The $1.1 trillion spending bill passed by Congress last week has earned high marks from numerous imaging societies, including the American College of Radiology and Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance. Now, the Academy of Radiology Research has also shown its support for the bill, applauding the $16.8 million increase in funding at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

This latest news reverses a trend that saw the institute’s purchasing power drop nearly 25 percent in the last 13 years, according to the organization.

“Thank you to Chairmen Hal Rogers and Tom Cole as well as Ranking Members Nita Lowey and Rosa DeLauro for their leadership with this appropriation of more than $32 billion to the NIH, including a $16.8 million increase for the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB),” Renee L. Cruea, executive director of the Academy of Radiology Research, said in an official statement. “The Academy is proud to have advocated for the establishment of NIBIB 20 years ago, and now to have contributed to this positive outcome for FY2016. We will continue to strive for positive results to enhance patient health through advances in biomedical imaging.”

The NIBIB’s total budget is now more than $340 million. One of the primary ways the money is expected to be used is to help fund the creation of pricey patents.

During the recent Radiological Society of North America’s 2015 annual meeting in Chicago, as part of a campaign generated by the Academy of Radiology Research, more than 2,700 attendees wrote letters in support of increased NIH funding to various members of Congress.

According to the academy’s statement, both the success of that RSNA campaign and this latest development in funding have helped motivate its members into continuing their push for even more funding from Congress in the near future.

Coverage of MITA’s own statement about the $1.1 trillion spending bill can be found here.