Prologue: The worlds of health science and medical care delivery are, in most respects, irrevocably wed. But when it comes to the processes of Washington policymaking, as they relate to these worlds, such is not always the case. Different sets of congressional committees, composed of legislators with different philosophies and thus varying priorities, deal with the increasingly complex issues of health science and medical care delivery finance, thus creating an artificial separation that adds a high degree of difficulty to coherent policymaking. Authors David Hamburg and Elena Nightingale, two physicians who have largely left their medical and behavioral research careers behind to pursue new vistas, point out the importance of recognizing health sciences as a chain. Links in the chain range from the quest for basic information on the nature of living organisms to demonstrably useful interventions in prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of disease. Since January 1, 1983, Hamburg has been president of the C...