What the ASBMB Office of Public Affairs is thankful for…

As we gather around the table for the Thanksgiving holiday, the ASBMB Office of Public Affairs has made our own list of things we’re thankful for this year.

1. Scientists who spend their days and nights tirelessly working to develop treatments and cures that improve the quality of life for society.
2. Members of Congress who understand the value of an investment in basic research.
3. The leadership at the National Institutes of Health who maintain the NIH as the global gold standard for biomedical research.
4. Researchers who help educate the public on the importance of what they do.
5. The commitment of ASBMB members to advocacy efforts on behalf of the research enterprise.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours from the ASBMB Office of Public Affairs!

Rep. Holt Introduces Amendment to Reinstitute Office of Technology Assessment

Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ) has offered an amendment to the Legislative Branch appropriations bill looking to fund the Office of Technology Assessment, an office of the United States Congress from 1972 to 1995 before being defunded by Congress in 1995. OTA’s purpose was to provide Congressional members and committees with objective and authoritative analysis of the complex scientific and technical issues of the late 20th century, i.e. technology assessment. It was a leader in practicing and encouraging delivery of public services in innovative and inexpensive ways, including distribution of government documents through electronic publishing. Its model was widely copied around the world.  Since the OTA is no longer in existence, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has tried to fill the gap by establishing a technology assessment unit, but it is not on par with the OTA. The OTA would be an independent, non-partisan entity available to members of Congress to help explain to them complex scientific issues. The amendment proposes $2.5M for OTA, a tiny amount of money for a program with a potentially large.

UPDATED: The Holt amendment failed by a vote of 176-235.  Thank you to those of you who reached out to your representatives

Effects of Budget Cuts Spelled Out By Agencies

Despite escaping seemingly unharmed from the historical cuts enacted in the FY11 budget, science agencies will nonetheless end up being forced to cut back.  The National Institutes of Health, which saw approximately $300 million knocked of its FY10 budget level of $30.8 billion, released a notice yesterday indicating that non-competing continuing grants at all institutes except the National Cancer Institute would be chopped by 1%, while grants from NCI would be forced to undergo a 3% reduction.  With the remaining funds available for competing (new and renewal) grants, NIH estimates that 9050 grants will be able to be supported, down from the 9455 competing grants funded in FY10 and continuing a trend of decreased grant support that has accelerated since 2003. Surprisingly, stipend levels for the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Awards will receive a 2% bump for the rest of FY11.

The National Science Foundation, which suffered a $52 million loss from its FY10 budget level of nearly $6.9 billion, has also analyzed the effects of their reduced FY11 budget on researchers.  According to their analysis, the $42 million cut to the Research and Related Activities program will result in 134 fewer awards being granted than in FY10, leaving approximately 1500 personnel unsupported.   Education and Human Resources, which saw a decrease of $10 million, will now fund 16 fewer grants and 300 fewer researchers.

Combined with the loss of stimulus funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, these cuts will clearly accelerate the funding crisis for scientific researchers.  ASBMB has met with agency leadership to discuss strategies that will best stretch research dollars, but only a restoration of agency budgets to levels that keep up with inflation will be sufficient to fully restore the country’s research capacity.

ASBMB Student Hill Day in Washington D.C.- Did We Mention It Was FREE??

Interested in science policy?  Looking for a way to make your voice heard?  Then apply for our annual, all-expenses paid Student Hill Day, to be held in Washington D.C. on Tuesday March 15, 2011.  Selected participants will arrive on Monday March 14 for a reception and evening training session, before converging on Capitol Hill the next day to meet with their representatives in Congress. Sign up HERE to make your voice heard in the name of science!

ASBMB Response To Tragedy In Arizona

The tragic events of this past weekend sadden all of us, scientists, politicos, and citizens of the United States.  Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., has long been a champion for the scientific community, and has been a strong ally to agencies such as NASA and the National Science Foundation.  We issue our deepest condolences to those who lost their lives, those wounded, and their families in the needless violence that took place on Saturday.

ASBMB Science Policy Fellowship Program Now Accepting Applications!

ASBMB is pleased to announce that we are now accepting applications for our Science Policy Fellowship Program.  We are looking for recent Ph.D.’s with excellent communication and analytical skills who have an interest in governmental affairs.  For details on how to apply, please visit the Science Policy Fellowship Program website: http://www.asbmb.org/Page.aspx?id=2274

 

Senate panel approves $32 billion for NIH in 2011

On Thursday July 29, the Senate Appropriations committee approved a $32 billion budget for the National Institutes of Health as part of its 2011 spending bill. After being approved by the Senate subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services on Tuesday July 27, the bill passed the full committee by a vote of 18-12, with voting split along party lines. While including $50 million for a new translational research initiative, the committee’s budget falls well short of recommendations by ASBMB and other scientific societies.

New science policy fellow joins Blotter

On July 14, Geoffrey Hunt, the 2010-2011 ASBMB science policy fellow, joined the ASBMB Policy Blotter as its newest contributor. Along with 2009-2010 ASBMB science policy fellow Kyle Brown, Hunt will submit regular articles on science policy issues relevant to the biomedical science community.

ASBMB president-elect responds to genome criticism

The importance of the sequencing the human genome “cannot be overstated,” Suzanne Pfeffer, ASBMB president-elect, wrote in a recent letter to the editor published in the June 25 edition of the New York Times.  Pfeffer’s letter was critical of the conclusions and implications of two recent articles and an editorial printed by the Times in the past month.

Pfeffer’s letter appears with critiques from industry leaders and fellow academic researchers, highlighting the important tool that the human genome has become in biomedical research.  In a recent article, The Economist also noted that, even with the tools provided by the human genome, the race for disease cures would more resemble a marathon than a sprint.

Read Pfeffer’s letter, two recent articles and an editorial about the 10^th anniversary of the human genome on the New York Times’ website.  The Economist’s take on the genome can be found here.

No microbe for Wisconsin, but others?

The Wisconsin state Senate failed to act on a measure that would have made Lactococcus lactis the country’s first official state microbe.  Earlier this spring, the Wisconsin State Assembly approved a measure to recognize this “unsung hero” of the cheese-making industry.

A recent interview on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered suggests that other states might also consider designating an official microbe.  The blog Small Things Considered has some suggestions.

Find out more about the original measure on the Blotter.  NPR’s original report and follow-up broadcast can also be found on the Web.