AAPM Government Affairs

AAPM is deeply engaged in advocacy, continuously working to represent the interests of our profession with dedicated AAPM staff, expert consultants, and lobbyists actively monitoring, responding to, and leading initiatives that affect medical physicists.

(October 27, 2026)

AAPM Leaders Advocate for Medical Physics Priorities on Capitol Hill

On October 14, AAPM leaders from the Executive Committee took the Association's priorities directly to Capitol Hill. In meetings with Senate and House offices, including members of the committees that fund and authorize the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), AAPM's leaders advocated for federal funding for NIST and its Radiation Physics Division, and for passage of the VA Medical Physicist Pay Cap Relief Act (H.R. 3489/S. 3771).

NIST's Radiation Physics Division maintains the national radiation measurement standards that underpin the calibration of radiation therapy and imaging equipment in clinics across the country. AAPM asked Congress to restore funding for NIST's Scientific and Technical Research and Services (STRS) laboratory programs to the FY2025 enacted level of $857.2 million and to ensure that this funding supports the Radiation Physics Division. STRS funding fell to $843.9 million in FY2026, and the House Appropriations Committee's FY2027 bill would provide approximately $725 million for NIST research and measurement science programs outside of community projects, a further cut of $119 million.

AAPM's leaders also urged offices to cosponsor H.R. 3489/S. 3771, which would remove the pay cap on VA therapeutic and diagnostic medical physicists, helping address staffing shortages and strengthen veterans' access to high-quality radiology and radiation oncology care. H.R. 3489 currently has six bipartisan cosponsors. S. 3771, introduced by Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), is cosponsored by Sens. John Boozman (R-AR) and Jim Banks (R-IN).

In each meeting, AAPM's leaders highlighted the essential role medical physicists play in ensuring accurate radiation measurements, safe cancer treatment, and high-quality care for veterans.

AAPM members can build on this work by participating in AAPM's action alerts. The AAPM Action Center currently has two active alerts: one urging Congress to fund NIST and its Radiation Physics Division, and one asking legislators to cosponsor the VA Medical Physicist Pay Cap Relief Act. Each alert lets members contact their own senators and representative directly. Messages from constituents who work in the field carry particular weight with congressional offices, and each one reinforces the case AAPM's leaders made on Capitol Hill.

Contact Congress through the AAPM Action Center >>

AAPM Urges NIH to Preserve Peer-Review Scores and Percentiles

On October 13, AAPM submitted comments in response to the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Request for Information on Proposed Changes to Reporting Outcomes from NIH Peer Review (NOT-OD-26-088). NIH proposed reporting only broad categories of "Most competitive," "Competitive," or "Not discussed," while withholding final overall impact scores and percentile rankings from applicants, institutions, NIH program staff, Institute and Center leadership, and Advisory Councils.

AAPM warned that percentile rankings help normalize scoring across study sections, which is especially important for medical physics applications that are often reviewed by panels in which physical scientists are a minority. Broad categories would also make it harder for applicants, particularly early-stage investigators, to decide whether and how to resubmit, and would weaken second-level review by Advisory Councils at a time when funding decisions rely more heavily on programmatic discretion.

AAPM recommended that NIH report the category together with the final overall impact score and percentile, publish how category boundaries are set and maintained across study sections and review cycles, and monitor and publicly report the effects of any change on early-stage investigators and smaller fields.

Read AAPM's full comments >>

AAPM Recommends Safeguards for Generative AI-Enabled Medical Devices

On October 19, AAPM submitted comments to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on its discussion paper, Considerations for the Regulation of Generative AI-Enabled Medical Devices (Docket FDA-2026-N-7874), which seeks early input on how these devices should be evaluated and regulated across their lifecycle.

AAPM's principal recommendation is that FDA establish an explicit evidence chain linking manufacturer validation, clinical confirmation, site-specific acceptance testing and commissioning, postmarket surveillance, and controlled modification, with medical physicists providing site-specific technical leadership within multidisciplinary clinical teams. AAPM emphasized that benchmark success and nominal human review should not be treated as sufficient evidence of safe clinical deployment.

The comments also called for physics-based, task-specific validation, such as testing whether image reconstruction and synthetic CT tools add, remove, or distort clinically relevant structures and how those errors affect radiation dose; human oversight that is demonstrated rather than assumed; and change control that covers the complete device configuration, including model updates. For AI systems that can take actions, AAPM urged FDA to ensure that existing safety interlocks and independent verification are not bypassed.

Read AAPM's full comments >>

AAPM Joins Coalition Supporting FY2027 NIH Appropriations

AAPM joined the Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research in an October 22 coalition letter urging congressional leaders and appropriators to finalize a robust, bipartisan FY2027 appropriation for NIH as quickly as possible, ideally by the end of the calendar year. NIH and other federal agencies are currently funded at FY2026 levels under a continuing resolution that runs through December 11.

The letter highlights the importance of timely appropriations for sustaining medical research, supporting researchers and research institutions, and ensuring that patients benefit from continued scientific progress. It also encourages Congress to maintain and build on enacted safeguards against policies that could further delay or disrupt appropriated research funding. AAPM's participation complements its regulatory submissions and its broader advocacy for predictable federal investment in biomedical research, medical technology, and the research workforce.

Read the coalition letter >>

Please contact Lauren DePutter, AAPM’s Director of Government Affairs and External Relations, with any questions or concerns.

Monthly AAPM Advocacy Updates

How you can help!

Your voice and participation strengthen our advocacy efforts. Numerous opportunities exist for AAPM members to advocate by lending their voices, experiences and collective expertise.

Become a state champion through CHAMPS and CHAMPWG
Take action through the AAPM Advocacy Action Center to contact lawmakers and support key policy priorities affecting medical physics
Volunteer on key committees including GRAC, ECON or through subcommittees and working groups: WGPVAC, CRCPDS, JMPLSC, and GRPSC

How AAPM is Actively Advocating:

Monitoring and Engagement: Our staff and dedicated volunteers closely track news, policy actions, and communications from peer and partner organizations. This ensures we are informed and responsive, supporting relevant initiatives beneficial to our members.
Informing Membership: Stay updated through the AAPM Newsletter, e-News, association emails, committee updates, meeting sessions, social media, and by direct contact with staff and volunteers.
Working Collaboratively: AAPM has worked to establish a close and cooperative working relationships with numerous government bodies, organizations and key federal agencies, such as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), along with a range of medical providers, corporation, suppliers and peer professional societies. AAPM recently spearheaded a joint response to the July 17, 2025 Federal Register notice regarding proposed changes to the Hospital Outpatient Quality Reporting (OQR) Program, with 5 peer societies adding their support. Read the response HERE.

Together, we can ensure the voice of medical physicists remains strong, informed, and influential.

Activities

Highlights of Recent Activities (2025):

AAPM recently spearheaded a joint response to the July 17, 2025 Federal Register notice regarding proposed changes to the Hospital Outpatient Quality Reporting (OQR) Program, with 5 peer societies adding their support. Read the response HERE.
Supported multiple coalition letters advocating for robust federal funding of NIH and NSF research programs.
Endorsed ASTRO’s ROCR bill aimed at enhancing radiation oncology reimbursement.
Initiated a "Take-Action" campaign opposing indirect funding caps at NIH, successfully mobilizing over 90 advocacy messages to Congressional offices.
AAPM leadership approved an official Advocacy Agenda, a strategic roadmap to guide our government relations efforts moving forward.
AAPM’s inaugural Advocacy Day (Hill Day) scheduled for Thursday, July 31, 2025 immediately following our Annual Meeting.
Launched CHAMPS, a state-level grassroots advocacy program:
- The Steering Subcommittee is actively recruiting and training state volunteers.
- This program sets targeted advocacy goals and provides training resources to enhance state-level advocacy.
Strengthened partnerships and provided training through CRCPDS, enhancing our relationships with federal and state radiation programs.
ECON Committee diligently monitors and prepares for annual CMS rule cycles, offering training to members and submitting formal comments on behalf of medical physicists.
Through WGPVAC, we proactively engaged for the Veterans Affairs Hospitals—the nation’s largest healthcare system—to safeguard medical physics contracts crucial for patient care. AAPM previously facilitated the introduction of HR6800 to address hiring and retention challenges for therapy physicists within the VA, and we’re actively pursuing its reintroduction and expansion to diagnostic physicists.

Government Affairs