Biophysical Society Bulletin | July-August 2022

Public Affairs

Rally for Medical Research Biophysical Society members in the United States are invited to join us in Washington, DC on September 13–14 to call for medical research funding! Registration is now open for the annual Rally for Medical Research (https:/www.biophysics.org/ policy-advocacy/take-action) fly-in, where you will meet with your elected officials and advocate on behalf of making National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding a national priority. This event, established in 2013, includes more than 300 national organiza tions coming together with a focused message on increasing NIH funding and raising awareness about the research it sup ports. Please email Leann Fox at lfox@biophysics.org to learn more and visit www.biophysics.org/policy-advocacy/take-action to register for the event.

AdamH. Russell Named Acting Deputy Director of ARPA-H On May 25, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra announced the formal establishment of the Advanced Research Project Agency for Health (ARPA-H) as an indepen dent entity within the National Institutes of Health, as well as the appointment of Adam H. Russell as Acting Deputy Director. Currently, Russell is the Chief Scientist at the University of Maryland’s Applied Research Laboratory for Intelligence and Security (ARLIS). He spent more than a decade as a Program Manager, first at the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) and then at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). HouseMembers Introduce Bipartisan STEMDiversity Bill Representatives Alma Adams (R-NC-12), Terri Sewell (R-AL 07), Mike Turner (R-OH-10), and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA-01) have introduced the “Supporting Diverse STEM Students Act” (HR 7313). The bill seeks to update the Minority Science and Engineering Improvement Program (MSEIP) to support insti tutions that predominantly serve minority students in their capacity to provide direct scholarships and comprehensive

wraparound services for their STEM student success. These services include guidance counseling and academic advising, work-study and work-based learning opportunities, faculty and peer mentorship, summer bridge programs, undergrad uate research opportunities, and individualized academic support and tutoring. A similar bill, the “Supporting Minority STEM Student to Career Act,” was introduced in the 116th Congress (2019-2020) but failed to progress. Future of Neutron Science in the United States Due to National Institute of Standards and Technology Center for Neutron Research (NCNR) nuclear reactor failure and planned upgrades of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) neutron scattering facilities, availability of neutrons for research in the United States, including biophysical studies, will be limited until 2029. This dearth of neutrons has prompted two neutron scat terers, Jaroslaw (Jarek) Majewski of the University of NewMexico, Albuquerque and Adrian Brügger of Columbia University, to re quest to the Department of Energy that the partially dormant Los Alamos National Laboratory’s (LANL’s) Lujan Center be re-opened to general users. We are asking members of the Biophysical Society whomay be impacted by limited neutron availability to please send a one-page letter of support to Brügger at brugger@ civil.columbia.edu.

July-August 2022

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