*Jamie Foxx was in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday lobbying for funding for the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Down syndrome research initiatives.
The proposed legislation, known as the DeOndra Dixon INCLUDE Project Act—named in honor of the Academy Award-winning actor’s late sister who had Down syndrome—has already been approved by the House and is now under consideration in the Senate, The Hill reports.
“When we lost DeOndra, we lost a part of our soul,” Foxx said during a press briefing. “We all felt it. It was gut wrenching. She had so much life.”
Foxx has collaborated with the Global Down Syndrome Foundation (GLOBAL) to support people with Down syndrome and their families. The organization worked with Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.), and Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) to introduce the DeOndra Dixon INCLUDE Project Act, “which would increase research funding up to $250 million for the NIH’s Investigation of Co-occurring Conditions Across the Lifespan to Understand Down Syndrome (INCLUDE) Project,” The Hill writes. As of now, $111 million has been allocated to Down syndrome research at the NIH.
The DeOndra Dixon INCLUDE Project Act seeks to expand clinical trials for those with Down syndrome, as they are “predisposed to certain conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease and leukemia but are less likely to experience mass tumor cancers or certain heart diseases,” per The Hill.
“Although this is the most common chromosome abnormality, it is also the least funded at NIH,” said McMorris Rogers who has a son with Down syndrome. “And we’re going to change that,” she added.
Check out what Jamie told reporters in Washington D.C. in the YouTube clip above.
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