A group of us from the National Scleroderma Foundation met in Washington DC.  It was a very busy time of the year, so many of the senators and representatives that we tried to meet with were too busy to meet with us, but we met with their healthcare aides. I did get to meet and have a photo-up with Jesse Jackson Jr. from Chicago.  We also met with NIAMS director Dr. Katz. Although funding for scleroderma research has been flat for the last 5 years, he could not promise us increases in funding and told us that as far as he was concerned the best research with the best scores gets funded. That was a bit discouraging, but he did mention that he would like to work with us on a conference about scleroderma that the NIH might host.   Me with Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr.