Renewing the Economy Through Research

The Senate debate on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act - aka the stimulus package - begins today. The chamber is likely to be very busy voting on a long list of amendments to the bill, including Senator Arlen Specter's proposal to increase NIH funding.

Sen. Specter's amendment would add $6.5 billion to the $3.5 billion for NIH currently included in the bill. Additional funds provided by the amendment would be distributed to the Institutes and Centers proportional to their current funding level. It's important to let your senators know that you support $10 billion for NIH in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Research is an economic driver. The FamiliesUSA report, In Your Own Backyard, showed that every dollar of NIH funding results in more than twice as much state economic output. Each grant also supports about 7 jobs with average annual salaries of $52,000. Investing in the NIH will create and sustain high-paying jobs in every state while improving the lives and health of Americans.

**UPDATE: Senators Tom Harkin and Dick Durbin are co-sponsoring the NIH amendment.

January News Round-Up

Photo credit: Disney's 1992 musical Newsies

It's hard to believe January is already wrapping up, but as we head into February many of the news stories from the past month will be coming with us. Here are our thoughts on the big news stories of the month:

Changes in the Pharmaceutical Industry
There has been some big news coming out of the pharmaceutical industry this month. Layoffs of sales reps and researchers are affecting multiple companies. Also, Pfizer is acquiring Wyeth in a $68 billion dollar merger. As ever-disappearing pipelines for blockbuster drugs disappear, major pharmaceutical companies will have to reorganize their R&D and sales models. Here's hoping that this shake-up will lead to a greater emphasis on personalized medicine and wellness.
- Heather Benson

Stem Cell News
President Obama had the stem cell community, including our friends at the Student Society for Stem Cell Research, tense with anticipation thanks to statements (see question 8) about reversing President Bush’s policy on federal funding for stem cell research with an executive order. On January 19 Newsmax.com reported on the possibility that President Obama might prefer legislative action to an executive order on the stem cell issue. The President is quoted as saying,

“… I like the idea of the American people’s representatives expressing their views on an issue like this.”

It is good news, then, that Representative Diana DeGette [D-CO] issued a press release on Wednesday indicating that she will re-introduce legislation overturning limits on federal funding for stem-cell research. A new article in Time magazine illustrates the need for this research and the prominence that this issue has in current events.

You can keep current on the issue by checking out Ben's Stem Cell News, too.
- Hillary Lewis

Global Warming: Less of a Concern?
A Pew poll released last week about issues that President Obama should address shows global warming is less of a concern to Americans than it was a year ago. Andrew Revkin pointed out that the “findings are somewhat at odds with President Obama,” who has pledged to proactively address global warming.

The economy, jobs, and terrorism were the top three issues, not surprising during the current economic crisis.

In other news, Al Gore presented to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about climate change, and urged them to quickly pass President Obama’s stimulus package, which allocates funding for energy programs that will help the U.S. deal with global warming. Hopefully continued visibility of climate change advocates will keep the issue on the public’s mind, even if it’s not currently their most pressing concern.
-Emily Norton

Oh, and we have a new president.

See you in February!

How To: Do an Informational Interview

Informational interviews are helpful for a variety of reasons:

* Learning about careers away from the bench
* Networking with others in your field
* Developing partnerships for writing papers
* Learning about relevant patient groups associated with your research
* Finding business partners in the community

To start off, be professional! Write a brief letter (or email) to introduce yourself and outline your background. Explain why you would like to talk to the person. Say that you would appreciate 15 or 30 minutes of their time to ask them a few questions. Indicate when you will contact him/her to set up a mutually convenient meeting or phone conversation. Follow up with a phone call and refer to your letter to open the conversation.

Tips for an Effective Informational Interview

• Self Assessment: think about your interests and what you would like to gain from the informational interview.
• Research: research the organization and person you will be speaking with. If he/she has written any articles, peruse them to become familiar with their research.
• Prepare a list of thoughtful questions to use as a guide. It is perfectly acceptable to bring notes.
• Never ask for a job! Informational interviews are for information gathering, they are not job interviews.
• Dress professionally: you want to make a positive impression.
• Remember to send a thank you note!

Potential Outcomes

• At least one new professional contact (plus they may direct you to a few other people to speak with)
• Obtain first hand information about your career field and necessary skills
• Better interviewing skills and confidence speaking with people, especially since informational interviews are generally low stress situations

For an informational interviewing tutorial, visit here. Do you have any additional tips you’d like to share?

We, the People

Generally, the scientific community has been thrilled with President Obama and his appointments to positions related to science. Many were equally overjoyed at the specific nod to science, technology, and health in his inaugural address.*

For everywhere we look, there is work to be done. The state of the economy calls for action, bold and swift, and we will act — not only to create new jobs, but to lay a new foundation for growth. We will build the roads and bridges, the electric grids and digital lines that feed our commerce and bind us together. We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost. We will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories. And we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. All this we will do.

Having an administration that respects science and research is certainly a breath of fresh air. However, of all the words in the above passage, the one with the most power is "we". It would be unfair to place the burden of restoring scientific prosperity on the shoulders of a single politician, which is why advocacy is more important than ever.

Science policy - public policy that directly relates to the field of science - will be in many pieces of the 111th Congress' legislation. We must work, as a community, to encourage our elected officials to remember the value of science to our health, our economy, our role in the world, our future.

What will you be doing?

*A couple good discussions on the "rightful place of science" for you to check out include Ed Yong's piece on his blog Not Exactly Rocket Science, an essay by David Overbye in the New York Times and the clip below from Monday's The Colbert Report starring The Intersection's Chris Mooney.

The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c

Obama's New Science Policy - Chris Mooney

Colbert at Christmas
Colbert Christmas DVD

Green Screen
Bill O'Reilly Interview

$10 Billion for NIH in Economic Recovery

Take action now to support $10 billion for the National Institutes of Health in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Senator Arlen Specter will introduce an amendment tomorrow when the Appropriations Committee considers the bill. The current version includes $3.5 billion for NIH, and the amendment would add $6.5 billion bringing the total to $10 billion.

Contact your senators immediately and urge them to be a champion for NIH. It is particularly important for you to speak out if your senator is on the Appropriations Committee, listed below.

Daniel K. Inouye, Hawaii, Chairman
Robert C. Byrd, West Virginia
Patrick J. Leahy, Vermont
Tom Harkin, Iowa
Barbara A. Mikulski, Maryland
Herb Kohl, Wisconsin
Patty Murray, Washington
Byron L. Dorgan, North Dakota
Dianne Feinstein, California
Richard Durbin, Illinois
Tim Johnson, South Dakota
Mary L. Landrieu, Louisiana
Jack Reed, Rhode Island
Frank R. Lautenberg, New Jersey
E. Benjamin Nelson, Nebraska
Mark Pryor, Arkansas
Jon Tester, Montana
Thad Cochran, Mississippi, Ranking Member
Arlen Specter, Pennsylvania
Christopher S. Bond, Missouri
Mitch McConnell, Kentucky
Richard C. Shelby, Alabama
Judd Gregg, New Hampshire
Robert F. Bennett, Utah
Kay Bailey Hutchison, Texas
Sam Brownback, Kansas
Lamar Alexander, Tennessee
Susan Collins, Maine
George Voinovich, Ohio
Lisa Murkowski, Alaska

Dr. Lei Focuses the Public Eye on DNA

Profile: Dr. Hsien-Hsien Lei, PhD
Blog: Eye on DNA at http://www.eyeondna.com/

As we approach an era when genetic testing will be available for an increasing number of conditions, it becomes more and more important that we, the potential patients, know what the strengths, weaknesses, and ethical considerations are before we ask what our DNA can tell us about our future health. And who better to talk to us about those details than an expert in DNA research?

Dr. Hsien-Hsien Lei is a PhD-trained epidemiologist and a biotech consultant. Her blog engages readers with thought-provoking commentary on moral and philosophical concerns raised by DNA technology combined with light-hearted and fun posts.

As with most great authors, Dr. Lei blogs about what she knows. Her blog, Eye on DNA, talks about the realm of DNA research, from genetic discoveries to the ethics of testing your children to gauge their potential as star halfback. The combination of experience as a scientists and involvement in the molecular testing market is what makes her blog so great. She offers a scientific perspective on genetic testing developments that is difficult to find in language that anyone can process.

Dr. Lei’s efforts at public education make her an ideal scientist advocate. She embraced social networking and blogging as a tool to make developments in genetic research more approachable for everyone. Dr. Lei says, “Everyone needs to understand how our bodies work and how our genes plus the environment affect us.” Her idea is that more knowledge on the topics of DNA and genetics will help people decide what steps to take to live happier, healthier lives. She also helps scientists like me stay abreast of new research and its application to medicine, for which I thank her profusely.

Dr. Lei’s blogging helps to put one relatively straightforward advocacy activity in perspective. Talk about what you know. Using the communications tools like those we discuss on this blog, you can make your research approachable to any audience. Your expertise and enthusiasm for the topic make this type of advocacy fun for you and your readers!

Research Funding in the Recovery Bill

Push for $17.6 B for Research—$10 B for NIH—in the Recovery Bill Contact Congress Now

Urge your congressional delegation to support $17.6 billion for research to improve health in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Science and health are clearly important to the 111th Congress. Your voice is needed to support their efforts. Senator Arlen Specter is urging the Senate to include $10 billion for the National Institutes of Health over the next two years in the economic recovery legislation. Other priorities for research to improve health include $3 billion for the National Science Foundation, $3.5 billion for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and $1.1 billion for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

President Barack Obama has called for "investing in the science, research, and technology that will lead to new medical breakthroughs, new discoveries, and entire new industries." Seize this opportunity to advocate for increased funding for research to improve health. Take action now!

Congressional Town Hall Meetings this Week

We recently suggested going to a town hall meeting as a way to stay connected to your community. Here are a few upcoming town hall meetings with your congressional representatives. Head out and meet your elected officials. We look forward to hearing about your experience!

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Representative Pete Stark (CA-13)
Union City, California
8:30 a.m. Ruggieri Senior Center
Hayward, California
11 a.m. Hayward City Hall

Senator Ron Wyden
Klamath Falls, Oregon
10:30 a.m. Oregon Institute of Technology

Representative Gene Green (TX-29)
Houston, Texas
9 a.m. Houston Community College Southeast
11 a.m. Houston Community College Northline
1 p.m. Lone Star College, Greenspoint Center

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Representative Tom Petri (WI-6)
Watertown, Wisconsin
10 a.m. Municipal Building
Beaver Dam, Wisconsin
2 p.m. City Hall

Representative Gene Taylor (MS-4)
Laurel, Mississippi
6 p.m. Train Depot

Stay Connected

You'd be hard-pressed to find a good communicator who wasn't aware of current events and mainstream culture. Which means, as we strive to be better science communicators we need to maintain or improve our connections to the world. But, when your job entails reading journal articles, newspapers, books, and basically any other subject relevant piece of literature (using that term lightly here), the last thing you want to do is go home and absorb more information. In my current position there's a lot to take in. There are always articles circulating about health and science, meetings, blog posts, policy discussions, and enough news media to easily paper the walls of my office.

I understand your plight. At the end of the day, it sometimes takes serious effort to get myself to do anything. It's easy to forget about learning anything that isn't related to work. Then I remember: if I want to be able to talk to anyone that works outside of my field, I'm going to have to have a clue about what is going on in the world. By keeping current on issues that are important outside my office, I am able to relate to (and therefore communicate with) people better. This isn't just good advice for scientists, it applies to every driven professional out there. From time to time we've all been guilty of closing ourselves off - but if we make a concerted effort to stay connected it will enhance our lives and our work.

Knowing what is going on internationally, nationally, and locally is beneficial. It gives you an opportunity to find advocacy and communication opportunities, provides material for building examples, and may spark creative ideas for partnerships. If none of that is convincing, just remember that it can help you maintain supremacy at Jeopardy!.

There are many ways quick and easy ways to stay connected to your non-work world:

Read popular fiction.
Peruse the community or local newspaper.
Go to a town hall or school board meeting.
Watch the local and/or national evening news.
Listen to the radio (we love NPR too, but branch out if you can).
Have lunch with someone who works nearby, but not in your field.
Read magazine headlines while waiting in line at the grocery store.
Watch one movie a month that you've never seen before (doesn't have to be in theaters).
Subscribe to the feed of a political cartoonist.

What keeps you connected?

New Voices at the Inauguration

This weekend some of your New Voices authors were out experiencing the historic inauguration events in our nation's capitol. You can see some of our individual experiences at Sunday's concert and an inaugural ball in today's other posts. However, we also wanted to share our experiences from the National Mall during the inauguration itself.

Emily Norton's 5 foot 2 inch perspective from 3 blocks in front of the Washington Monument ...

was challenging. It's tough to be short in a crowd! Was it worth waking up at 5am for an hour and 45 minute metro ride (that would take 25 minutes tops on a good day)? Definitely. What struck me the most was the crowd's energy and attitude... I met people from Los Angeles, Tennessee, South Carolina, and Canada! And the one thing we all had in common is a shared hope for a brighter future.

Hillary's perspective from a location allowing occasional glimpses of the top of the Capitol...
Attending both the We Are One concert and the Inauguration was more than I'd bargained for but when tickets to the Standing Room Only area in front of the National Mall became available (the day before inauguration) my misgivings fled. Of course I want to be in those enormous crowds again, clad in many, many layers and jostling my way hither and yon, I told myself.

Well, maybe I was a little crazy- I could definitely see more from my couch (thanks to my roommate for DVRing) than I could from the hill we stood on, but just being there was something pretty special. Seeing the nods of people around me as President Obama gave a stirring speech and recruited us all as agents of change made me glad I joined the fray!

Heather's perspective from behind the really (nice) tall guy near the Capitol Reflecting Pool ...

The most amazing part of the ceremony for me was the music. John Williams' "Air and Simple Gifts" arrangement was breathtaking. My all-time favorite composer does a piece that I've loved since I could first sing (I always knew it as "Lord of the Dance"). It was emotional and moving and the highlight of the inauguration. It was a perfect way to bring in a new era in the American presidency.

We'd love to hear about your experiences in the comments section!