Biophysical Society Newsletter - July 2015

9

BIOPHYSICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER

2015

JULY

Congressional Fellowship (Continued from page 1) “As a long-time BPS member (my first meet- ing was as a grad student in 1987), I am deeply honored to represent the Society as the inaugural Congressional Fellow,” noted Wadkins. “I am hopeful that my time in Washington will prove beneficial to other BPS members and the overall scientific community in the United States.” The Society’s leadership decided to offer the fel- lowship in recognition that public policy increas- ingly impacts scientific research, and basic science literacy is increasingly needed to develop respon- sible policy. Through the fellowship, the Society’s leaders hope to provide a bridge between scientists and policymakers. This is also what Wadkins hopes to accomplish while in Washington. Wad- kins said that while his interest in politics began as a child when his father served in the Mississippi Legislature, his motivation to get involved was sparked by the 2010 US mideterm elections. “It struck me that many who were elected in that wave were not making policy decisions based on sound science. When I saw the advertisement for the BPS Congressional Fellowship, it sounded like exactly what I wanted to do, which is to be a voice for science’s role in US public policy.” Wadkins is hoping that his own background, growing up in the South and attending a public university, will allow him to relate personally to many of the members currently serving in Congress, and help him gain their trust in providing scientific input on policy matters. Wadkins plans to return to Ole Miss after his year on Capitol Hill. He hopes he will take back with him a greater understanding of how to most effec- tively communicate to elected officials the benefits of science to the economy and quality of life in the US. He will be providing periodic updates for the Society newsletter—so stay tuned!

(TWD) in August. The division supports a variety of research training, career development and diversity-building activities at the undergraduate through faculty levels. As director, Gammie will oversee these programs and lead strategic planning for the division, including optimizing approaches to address scientific workforce needs. She will also play a role in similar activities across NIH and among other federal and nonfederal agencies and organizations. Gammie is currently a senior lecturer in molecular biology at Princeton University. In addition, she directs the university’s Program for Diversity and Graduate Recruitment in Molecular and Quan- titative Biology and its Summer Undergraduate Research Program in Molecular and Quantitative Biology. She is also an associate clinical member at the Cancer Institute of New Jersey. Gammie’s research focuses on understanding how defects in DNA mismatch repair lead to cancer. Gammie earned a BA in biology from Reed College and a PhD in molecular biology from Oregon Health Science Center. The acting director of the new center is W. Fred Taylor , PhD, who has served as chief of the TWD’s Capacity Building Branch since 2013 and as director of the IDeA program since 1998. For more information about the Center for Research Capacity Building, visit www.nigms.nih. gov/about/overview/pages/crcb.aspx. Interested in using your science skills to inform science policy? Interested in spending a year working on Capitol Hill in Washington helping develop policy?

Apply to be the 2016-2017 BPS Congressional Fellow!

Application deadline: December 15, 2015

Visit www.biophysics.org for additional information.