Noting “Mitt Romney will become the official nominee for the Republican Party at its convention in Florida” this week, Kim Lufkin, communications officer for the Global Health Technologies Coalition, writes in this post in the coalition’s “Breakthroughs” blog, “Science and research will likely not appear on the agenda, as Romney, expected Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan, and others will instead focus on topics like reducing federal spending.” She continues, “It’s unfortunate that research will not be a part of the conversation, as new predictions coming out this week indicate that if Romney and Ryan win the election in November, changes could be coming for health research and efforts to develop much-needed new tools for global health.” She concludes, “It’s important that the candidates — from Obama and Vice President Biden to Romney and Ryan — start talking about these issues head-on,” and “no matter which party takes the White House in November, support for global health [research and development (R&D)] must continue” (8/24).