The Scientist Survey (A Reprise)

As some of you may already know, we are currently surveying scientists about their attitudes toward and experiences with science communication and policy. This is a friendly reminder (or suggestion if you didn't see our original post) to all of the scientists out there take part.

The study that we are conducting will provide vital and timely insight into how scientists view communication and policy. However, for the information to be useful, we need as many scientists as we can reach to complete the survey.

This means that we need your help. If you have completed at least some master's study (or higher) and intend to complete your degree in any of the scientific or medical fields and have not yet taken our survey, please do so now. And if you know any other scientists who would be willing to participate, please pass this on to them. By forwarding this to your friends and colleagues, you will enable us to reach a much broader network than we could on our own.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at ipeterson (at) researchamerica.org. Thank you!!

Chronicles of a Science Policy Fellow

So, here we are, in my third week as a Science Policy Fellow. This has been a bit of a switch for me. You see, for the last ten years or so, which essentially is the span of my professional life, I have been associated with academia. After undergrad, I was a research technician in a medical school, then went to grad school and earned my doctorate, and finally wound up as a college professor. Now here I am in Washington, using my experiences in academia to advocate for my research colleagues. This blog is about my transition from academia to the office; from research to policy.

I won’t lie; I do feel a bit out of my element. Each profession has a different way of doing things. I knew the ins and outs of academia. Now, I’m transitioning to policy, and while it’s not as different as I thought it would be, there is still some adjustment to be had. Overall, though, I find that I’m using all of the skills that I honed as a scientist. I’ve just adapted their application to a new realm.

What I like about this position is that I’m taking all of the things that I most enjoyed about academia and putting them to use as an advocate for science. I do a lot of background research, including scanning various news sources for interesting science discoveries as well as articles about issues relevant to our organization. In doing this, I’m constantly thinking about how these articles relate to our job as science advocates. So my job is three-fold… to stay informed about what’s happening on the Hill and among the public, and to monitor the research coming out of the science community. In doing so, I’m constantly thinking about how these three areas relate and how I can act as a bridge to make that cross-over apparent.

So that brings me to the next task, which is communication. This is through writing (i.e. blogs, newsletters, and other informational publications) and events, (i.e. Congressional hearings, meetings with other organizations, or public events). Here is where the exchange of ideas happens. I interface with other advocates, policymakers, and the public, talking about their interests, thoughts and ideas, and relating it to science and research. The face to face can be very rewarding and extremely productive: it’s during these exchanges that progress happens.

Finally, there’s my research project. While not conducted at a lab bench, it is very similar to a scientific study: I designed it around a question in which I am interested, I’m doing the research, and I will be preparing and presenting the results. Much like with laboratory research, the hope with this project is that it will lend some insight to the advocacy community and benefit the public.

So, in all, the transition has been pretty easy. I do miss the bench science a bit, but the atmosphere in the DC area is such that I really don’t have time to think about what I’m missing, because there’s so much that I’m learning and doing. To some degree, the Hill is a world away from the bench, but for me, my experience in academia has given me a unique point of view in the policy debates. So, while I’m still using my scientific curiosity and applying all of my research skills, I’m doing it in a slightly unconventional way. Perhaps in the end, that will allow more scientists to use their skills at the bench.

The Life Sciences in North Carolina

When I left you last week, I asked for your opinions about the top 5 “leading life science states.” I asked because I was interested in this demographic’s opinion of strong life science states. Let me introduce you to our three case study states, and reveal a leading life science state from last week’s pop quiz . . .

North Carolina—The Tar Heel State. And also a leading life science state!

Minnesota—The North Star State. A state with an established medical device industry with some growth in other sectors. (And also my home state!)

Kansas—The Sunflower State. Not for long—Kansas aims to be an up and coming life science leader.

Each of these states has implemented policies to facilitate the growth of their life science industry. Over the next few days, I’ll give you the 50,000 foot view of each state’s strategies.

This week: North Carolina—The Tar Heel State

North Carolina began its quest to become a leading state for technology in the 1950’s when state and local government leaders came together to form the Research Triangle Park (RTP). RTP is the largest research park in the United States whose tenants employed over 44,000 people in 2008. Many of those employees work at life sciences companies located in RTP.

By the 1980’s states leaders recognized the promise that the life science industry held, and decided that the state needed plan to promote growth in the future. In 1984, state leaders created the North Carolina created the North Carolina Biotechnology Center (NCBiotech). NCBiotech was given a mission to develop and expand the life science industry in North Carolina, and the center has been quite successful at fulfilling that mission. NCBiotech offers a slew of programs to promote industry development, including:

• Educational programs to retrain workers from low-tech industry to work in the high-tech life science industry
• Financing programs to provide the ever-critical money required to start a new business. To date, the state has invested over $200 million in life science companies!
• Consulting services and access to business knowledge

NCBiotech isn’t short on resources to complete its mission. In fact, NCBiotech received $15.6 million from the state legislature in 2007-08 to carry out its programs.

The investment has paid off. According to the North Carolina Chamber of Commerce:

“North Carolina has the third largest biotechnology industry in the nation with more than 520 bioscience companies, contract research organizations and device and life science-related companies. More than 56,000 workers, with skill sets ranging from bioprocess technicians to Ph.Ds are employed by this sector. Among the state’s largest biotech and pharmaceutical firms are GlaxoSmithKline, Merck, Bayer, Biogen IDEC, Diosynth, Novo Nordisk, Wyeth and Baxter.”

Next Week: the 50,000 foot overview of the life sciences industry in Minnesota.

This is Part 5 of 8 in our Entrepreneurship series.
Part 1 - Science and Entrepreneurship: An Introduction
Part 2 - It's All About the Ideas (and Money)
Part 3 - Financing a New Business in the Life Sciences
Part 4 - Leading Life Science States
Part 5 - Life Sciences in North Carolina
Part 6 - Life Sciences in Minnesota
Part 7 - Life Sciences in Kansas
Part 8 - Life Science Industry Overall

The Scientist Survey

Today I’d like to announce an opportunity for the scientists out there: the chance to take part in the New Voices Scientist Survey.

As part of the New Voices initiative—which we hope will empower scientists to become strong communicators and spokespersons for research—we are investigating scientists’ attitudes toward public communication and the policy process. I would like to invite you to participate in this initiative by completing a brief survey about these issues. The entire process takes approximately 10 minutes.

The purpose of this project is to gain a better understanding of how scientists perceive science communication and the policy process. The results will be used to guide our efforts with the New Voices and will be available here on the New Voices blog in November.

Participation in this study is entirely voluntary. Any identifying information will remain confidential and your responses will not be associated with you personally. To complete the survey, click here.

We want to reach as many scientists as possible, and your participation would be greatly appreciated! Also, it would be most helpful if you would pass this on to any scientists you know who might be interested in taking part.

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at ipeterson (at) researchamerica.org. Thanks!

Understanding Alzheimer's

Photo credit: Reader's Digest

Today some of us from New Voices are helping out at a briefing on the Hill. One of the focuses of the briefing is Alzheimer’s disease. Because Alzheimer’s is an important health issue and World Alzheimer’s Day was this past Monday, I thought it would be an appropriate topic for this post.

Alzheimer’s is a major health concern because it affects significant numbers of people across the US and throughout the world. Currently, an estimated 5.3 million people throughout the United States have Alzheimer’s; 35 million people across the globe are living with Alzheimer’s and dementia. These numbers will only increase with time: according to a recent report by Alzheimer’s Disease International, more than 115 million people across the globe will suffer from dementia by 2050. And in addition to the influence the disease has on the lives of patients and caregivers, it also has a huge economic impact: Alzheimer’s and other dementias cost Medicare, Medicaid and businesses more than $148 billion each year.

Although many have been directly impacted by Alzheimer's, there is a concerning lack of awareness about the disease in low and middle income countries and even in developed countries. The signs of the disease are not always recognized, and people are often hesitant to report symptoms. According to the World Alzheimer’s Report, in the UK:

• The average length of time people wait before reporting symptoms is three years
• 70% of caregivers report being unaware of the symptoms of dementia before diagnosis and 58% believe the symptoms to be a normal part of aging
• Only 31% of primary care doctors believe that they have adequate training to diagnose and manage dementia

Fortunately, important strides are being made toward understanding and finding treatment for Alzheimer’s. At the beginning of this month, teams of researchers from the UK and France reported having found potentially key genes linked to the development of Alzheimer’s disease, the first time in 16 years that such gene clues have been discovered. In July, another team reported that an immune therapy given to cancer patients could help reduce the risk of Alzheimer's.

Recognizing the importance of the disease, Alzheimer’s Disease International has made several recommendations to the global community. It has suggested that the disease be made a global and national health priority, that appropriate services for diagnosing the disease be created and made accessible, called for greater collaboration, and more research regarding the causes of “Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, pharmacological and psychosocial treatments, the prevalence and impact of dementia, and the prevention of dementia.”

So what can you do? Here are a few suggestions:

• Learn more about the symptoms, diagnosis, and treatments to gain a better understanding of the disease.
• Participate in the Memory Walk to help raise research funding.
• Get involved by finding out about services and support groups in your community.
• If you have been affected by Alzheimer’s, tell others about your experience to raise awareness and support for research and treatment.

The Color Blind Conundrum: Can you tell the difference between the red and green peppers?

Well, Sam and Dalton, two squirrel monkeys at the University of Washington, now can thanks to gene therapy.

Last week the science community was abuzz with research published in Nature (Mancuso, K. et al. Nature advanced online publication, doi:10.1038/nature08401, 2009) detailing the successful establishment of full color vision in two color blind squirrel monkeys at the University of Washington.

In a nutshell, researchers used gene therapy to insert the gene for red color vision into the eyes of male squirrel monkeys that previously lacked the gene. The result was the establishment of full color vision.

So why is this such a big deal?

Two reasons: For one, the gene therapy treatment worked - a huge advance for a technique that to date has held lots of potential, but few successful clinical applications.

More importantly, it gives researchers a bit more insight into the brain. Jay Nietz, one of the authors of the study, commented to Wired Science that colleagues did not believe that they would be successful because the research community generally accepts that there is a critical period during development during which neurons (the cells of the brain) make the necessary connections to perceive things like colors. The thinking is that if the brain wasn’t exposed to red early on, then it shouldn’t be able to register it later in life. Yet, in these monkeys, that wasn’t the case. Although they didn’t have the machinery (the red color gene) to perceive red when they were young, introduction of this gene later in life still resulted in them perceiving the color.

So really, what does this mean? It means that, at least when it comes to vision, the brain is more flexible than researchers thought. Even though it had never perceived red previously, when given the proper machinery, the red gene, it was able to make that distinction. So, for vision, the rules of neural connections are not as black and white as first thought.

What other systems might show this same “exception to the rule?” Perhaps other visual impairments, hearing deficits, maybe even systems outside the sensory realm? The clinical applications, should this be translatable to humans, could be astounding.

Take away points: Well, for one thing, science is constantly evolving, and as it evolves, its therapeutic potential increases. Another take-home lesson, sometimes the long-shot project fails, but other times, it doesn’t. When it doesn’t, it can mean great things for science and medicine. And maybe on a less universal note, but still important, if nothing else, the 1 in 12 men who are color-blind are one step closer to seeing red, and this sure would make their lives a little easier.

Stem Cell Awareness Day

Tomorrow – September 23 – is Stem Cell Awareness Day, and researchers are celebrating around the globe. Many research organizations are recognizing this day by taking part in The World Stem Cell Summit, being held at the Baltimore Convention Center in Maryland from September 21-23. This event has gathered leading innovators to discuss a wide range of stem cell-related topics, including the latest in research, medical applications, the role of business in stem cell therapy, and issues of law, ethics, and advocacy surrounding stem cell applications.

The clinical potential for stem cells is still unknown, but science suggests that these cells might aid in treating many diseases afflicting the population. The new administration’s relaxation of funding restrictions on stem cell research earlier this year will help to uncover what potential these cells truly hold. NIH estimates that grants receiving funding for research incorporating stem cells from the National Institute of Health in 2009 will total $2.1 billion. This has important implications for understanding the physiology of these cells and their clinical applications.

In June 2009, Research!America asked Americans if they would like an expansion of funding for embryonic stem cell research; 73% responded favorably. So, if you’d like to lend your voice to the cause, and celebrate Stem Cell Awareness Day, here are some activities for you to consider.

1. Look for local events in which to participate, or plan your own. A great place to start is http://www.stemcellday.com/, but also check with local universities and science organizations.
2. Contact your local paper and let them know why you support stem cell research.
3. Find out if your local representatives support stem cell research. If they do, send them a note to thank them; if not, then send them a letter to tell them why they should.
4. If you’re unsure of what stem cells are and how they work, then educate yourself. Here are some websites to get you started:

http://www.worldstemcellsummit.com/
http://www.cirm.ca.gov/StemCellBasics
http://dels.nas.edu/bls/stemcells/booklet.shtml
http://stemcells.nih.gov/info/basics/defaultpage.asp

Quick Poll: Leading Life Science States

Last Monday, I asked for your opinion of “leading life science states.” Before I reveal the three states that I used as a case study next week, which, if any, of these states do you think is a leading life science state?

KansasNorth CarolinaMinnesotaLouisianaNorth Dakota

Is any of these states a "life science leader?"

Leave your vote in the comments section below.

This is Part 4 of 8 in our Entrepreneurship series.
Part 1 - Science and Entrepreneurship: An Introduction
Part 2 - It's All About the Ideas (and Money)
Part 3 - Financing a New Business in the Life Sciences
Part 4 - Leading Life Science States
Part 5 - Life Sciences in North Carolina
Part 6 - Life Sciences in Minnesota
Part 7 - Life Sciences in Kansas
Part 8 - Life Science Industry Overall

Sparklers and tie-dyed lab goggles

Photo credit: Piccies

Ilse recognizes:
Rebecca Keller
Pre-IB and IB Chemistry II teacher
Highland Park Senior High School
Saint Paul, MN

If there is one thing that stands out in my mind about Mrs. Keller’s chemistry classes, it is the originality and excitement she added to the material we covered.

I took two courses with Mrs. Keller during high school: pre-IB chemistry during my sophomore year and IB chemistry during my junior year. (IB stands for International Baccalaureate and is somewhat similar to AP) For both courses, Ms. Keller combined conventional teaching (i.e. lectures at the blackboard) with group work and lab work, which kept us engaged throughout the 90-minute class periods.

Lab work was an especially important part of Ms. Keller’s class, as well as one of the most enjoyable components. Pre-IB Chemistry experiments included everything from M&M stoichiometry to slightly more serious titration experiments. IB Chemistry II allowed for even more creativity, since that lab was intended to give students the chance to design and execute their own experiments. One of the more interesting and successful projects done by a student (not myself) involved the creation of homemade sparklers using various metals. And did I mention the tie-dyed lab goggles we made?

Mrs. Keller’s classes also helped prepare me for college and influenced the choices I made there. My high school chemistry background provided a strong foundation for the general chemistry course I took my freshman year of college (which I took because of Mrs. Keller's classes). Because I enjoyed that semester, I decided to take another semester and eventually declared a chemistry major. And the rest is history.

Thanks, Mrs. Keller.


This tribute is part of our spotlight on science educators series.
Part 1 - Introduction
Part 2 - High School Chemistry: More than Science
Part 3 - Making Tessellations

To share your story about a science educator who helped shape your path, leave a comment, or send your story to hbenson at researchamerica.org.

Making Tessellations

Mrs. Gross' medieval times summer school class, 1991

Heather pays tribute to:
Mrs. Elaine Gross
Science/Gifted teacher
Flamingo Elementary School
Davie, Florida

Everything I am good at today I got my start at in Mrs. Gross’ classroom.

Mrs. Gross was one of those formidable women who seemed terribly scary and overwhelming (especially to a second grader) until she smiled at you. She taught the science "special" (all classes of all grade levels saw her once a week) and the gifted program, which meant most years from third grade on, she taught me reading, math, science and whatever else seemed to fit in there.

In science, we watched chicks hatch from eggs in an incubator, learned to build circuits that turned on lights or buzzed for wrong answers, developed a butterfly garden to attract our favorite colorful insects, experienced the embarrassment of sex ed, made ice cream in ziplock bags (a popular activity), and discovered which chemicals made the best bubbles.

In gifted, we learned to harness our creativity, make medieval family shields, participated in Toastmasters and Invent America, created our own archaeological digs, sang in Swahili, played volleyball with water balloons (measuring splatters in metric and inches), touched ashes from the Mt. St. Helens eruption, studied geological rock formations, and kept every paper mache company in South Florida in business.

In between all that, I got a chance to learn about life too. Nothing was more important to her (or so it seems now) than helping us to recognize that science was all around us, that the world was meant for us to explore it, and that we could learn anything we set our minds to.

Today, I've found a way to use so many of her lessons. I write for New Voices to engage others in science, use that fostered creativity in theater, took Toastmasters training to communications school, and spend every possible minute learning new things.

It's twenty years later, and I can still remember my first lesson in her class, tessellations. Like that one simple shape that multiplied and spread across my paper, Mrs. Gross shaped my love of learning, and encouraged me to repeat it in every sphere of my life.

Thank you Mrs. Gross. I wouldn't be the same without you.


This tribute is part of our spotlight on science educators series.
Part 1 - Introduction
Part 2 - High School Chemistry: More than Science

To share your story about a science educator who helped shape your path, leave a comment, or send your story to hbenson at researchamerica.org.