Dr. Mike Lehman, Director of the Brain Health Research Institute at 91ֿ, recently had the opportunity to provide biomedical science policy insights and guidance recommendations to the transition team working with President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. As a Board member and representative of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB), Dr. Lehman participated in discussions that included the following FASEB recommendations recently published in The Washington Update newsletter (12/17/2020):
- Increase Investments in Science and Innovation – FASEB encouraged the Biden Administration to submit budget proposals to Congress that provide predictable, stable, and sustained funding increases over multiple years for National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), U.S. Department of Energy Office of Science, the Agriculture and Food Research Initiative, and the Veterans Administration Medical and Prosthetic Research Program. In addition, FASEB urged the administration to maximize the amount of funding dedicated to investigator-initiated research.
- Sustain the Research Workforce – FASEB advocated for the Biden Administration to provide supplemental appropriations that will allow NIH and NSF to continue supporting younger investigators whose careers were interrupted by COVID-related laboratory shutdowns. Also mentioned were reducing the impact of regulatory burden on the research workforce, and preserving the commitment to merit review of grants. In addition, strong emphasis was placed on the importance of having a diverse cabinet and increased diversity in the scientific workforce, including trainees.
- Engage Stakeholders in Policy Discussions on Public Access to Peer-Reviewed Publications –The Biden Administration should take additional care to engage all stakeholders in setting policies pertaining to scientific publishing – the lynchpin for so many activities related to appropriate stewardship of federal funds. Similarly, these discussions should examine the impact of U.S. policies on international collaborations and the downstream effects on scientific progress and integrity.
FASEB is the nation’s largest coalition of biomedical researchers, and over 130,000 researchers from around the world. FASEB is now recognized as the policy voice of biological and biomedical researchers with the primary focus of advocating and supporting the advancement of biological and biomedical sciences.
“I am very much encouraged by the strong support that the new administration has already articulated for science and research. I am optimistic that the coming years will be a period of renewed investment in biomedical research and the careers of researchers, and that as researchers we will have a strong voice in future directions for federally-supported research.” Mike Lehman, Director of the Brain Health Research Institute