Biophysical Society Bulletin | October 2020

Public Affairs

BPSSupportsNASEMStudyonRacisminAcademia   The Biophysical Society has joined together with other scientific organizations to thank and echo the call of Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), Chair of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee, to confront inequities in the US scientific enterprise that have prevented full participation of racial and ethnic groups underrepresented in STEM. Johnson has called upon the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine to undertake a study to acknowledge and assess systemic racism in academia. Rally for Medical Research This year the Rally for Medical Research went virtual for its seminal White House Releases FY22 R&D Budget Priorities

advocacy event in support of medical research funding at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). 2020may be one of the most turbulent years some of us have experienced, but it focused a national spotlight on the value and need for science and research —not only in the United States, but around the globe. On September 18, more than 500 scientists, physicians, and health research advocates from all 50 states and the District of Columbia participated in over 340 virtual meetings with 100 Senators, 240 Representatives, and their policy staff. This year a record number of BPSmembers were able to participate in the virtual meetings from their labs, offices, and homes. We would like to recognize and thank the following members of BPS who participated in this year’s Rally and to those who sent advocacy letters in support of the contin-

The Office of Management and Budget and Office of Science and Technology Policy released a memo on August 14 detailing the administration’s fiscal year (FY) 2022 research and development priorities. The memo outlines the country’s role as “the unques- tioned global leader in science and technology research and innovation,” including in responding to COVID-19. The memo also outlines five priority areas for FY22 including: public health secu- rity and innovation as well as leadership in the industries of the future and related technologies such as AI, American security, energy and environmental leadership, and space leadership. NIH Ethics Advisory Board Releases Funding Recommendations The NIH Human Fetal Tissue Research Ethics Advisory Board released a report on August 18, summarizing the group’s funding recommendations for 14 research proposals, which include the use of human fetal tissue, reviewed during the board’s first meeting on July 31. Of the 14 proposals, 13 were recommended to withhold funding. The proposals have already received ap- proval for funding following two rounds of peer review, and HHS Secretary Alex Azar will make the final funding determination. Included in the NIH report was a dissenting opinion of twomem- bers of the board, stating that the recommendation to withhold funds from certain projects “will paradoxically fail to reduce the use of human fetal tissue in the development of humanizedmice needed for therapy development including for COVID-19.”

ued, strong funding for scientific research. 2020 Rally for Medical Research Participants:

• Francisco Barrera • Subhadeep Dutta • Nejat Duzgunes • Kevin Gardner • Gradimir Georgevich

• Julia Koeppe • Chitaranjan Mahapatra • Bridget Milorey • Ishita Mukerji • Hoang Nguyen • Jane Richardson • Michael Rudokas • David Stokes • Stephanie Tristram-Nagle • Nipuna Weerasinghe

• Michael Green • Rachel Haake • Jo Holt • Kalina Hristova • Adam Husar

October 2020

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