2006 Public Affairs Committee Report
The Public Affairs (PA) committee has undergone a
number of changes in the past year. With Bill Talman’s term as chair ending
at the end of 2005, I assumed the chair at the beginning of 2006. The
committee continues to hold monthly conference calls, which have lately
focused on implementation of the strategic plan. Bill Talman continues to
serve as the APS representative to the FASEB Science Policy Committee. In
addition to Bill’s Talman’s representation, I have also begun participating
in the Clinical Research Issues Subcommittee, with activities including
preparing a powerpoint presentation to educate others about issues in
clinical research, and encouraging the NIH to collect data on K awards.
Public Affairs and Animal Care and Experimentation
Committee Chairs visit Capitol Hill
Last August, Bill Talman and Kevin Kregel traveled to
Washington, D.C. to meet with members of Congress. As Iowa constituents,
they met with Rep. Jim Leach, and staff for Senators Grassley and Harkin to
discuss federal funding for research and possible animal research
legislation.
Collaboration with the Cardiovascular Section’s NIH
Liaison Subcommittee
PA committee member David Gutterman recommended that
the committee initiate collaboration with the NIH liaison subcommittee of
the cardiovascular section. Since then, Bill Talman and APS Science Policy
Analyst Rebecca Osthus have been participating in the NIH liaison
subcommittee’s conference calls, and Virginia Miller (head of the
subcommittee) has participated in this committee’s meetings and calls.
Collaboration between the two committees allows for coordination of
activities and being able to avoid duplication of effort, as both committees
deal with issues related to peer review at the NIH.
Comments submitted on behalf of the Society
2005-2006
Comments were submitted to the NIH on the agency’s
proposed policy to allow multiple principle investigators on grants. PA
committee members Clark Blatteis and Bridget Brosnihan worked together with
APS public affairs staff to draft and submit comments. Comments were also
submitted to the NIH on proposed changes to tuition policies for NRSA
fellows. Commenting on NIH policies that are relevant to APS members is in
keeping with the objectives of the strategic plan and will continue to be an
area of focus for the committee.
In addition to the comments on specific policies at NIH,
APS also submitted testimony on the proposed FY 2007 biomedical research
budgets for the NIH, NSF, VA and NASA. Testimony was drafted by public
affairs staff, and then edited and approved by the PA committee.
Coalition activities 2005-2006
Earlier this year, the APS joined a new coalition of
scientific societies to support a research and polling initiative that will
investigate the public’s views on the teaching of evolution in public
schools. The goal of this coalition is to better understand how societies
can be advocates for the teaching of evolution, which serves as a foundation
for understanding biological principles. The coalition includes a diverse
group of organizations such as FASEB (and several of its constituent
societies), the American Chemical Society, the National Academies of
Science, and the American Physical Society. Preliminary polling results
should be available by this July.
Experimental Biology 2007 – Opportunities in
Washington, D.C.
In addition to the Capitol Hill Day activities outlined
above, the PA committee is planning a symposium entitled, “Human Subject
Research Ethics: Issues for going from bench to bedside.” The symposium will
be chaired by Virginia Miller and I, and we are collaborating with the APS
Liaison with Industry Committee to identify appropriate speakers. Planning
is also underway for a joint public affairs symposium involving all the
societies participating in EB 2007. The symposium will feature NIH director
Dr. Elias Zerhouni and former Congressman John Porter. The discussion will
focus on the FY 2008 NIH budget and how scientists can become advocates for
research.
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