ISCB Newsletter 7-4

ISCB is an associate member society of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB), which maintains offices in Washington DC and is active in public policy on behalf of 22 member societies, representing over 65,000 scientists. Below are highlights of some of the most recent FASEB activities:

• FASEB is planning a workshop in June 2005 on the interface between government, academia and industry, with a focus on conflict of interest. This workshop is a response to a number of current issues, including recent concerns about government researchers “in the pocket” of industry, a drying of product pipelines in the pharmaceutical industry, and downward pressure on science funding budgets in the U.S. Sections of the meeting will be open to all interested parties. In a closed session, representatives from FASEB societies, government and industry will develop a white paper with proposals to address key issues.

• FASEB recently completed a five-year strategic plan. One outcome is a goal of being more proactive in public advocacy. Currently FASEB does an excellent job of interacting with government leaders regarding proposed and existing policies; however, a new FASEB committee is proposed that would work toward earlier access to information about developing issues and policies, and identifying issues and playing an active role in new directions. This is timely given the indications that Congress plans to take up an NIH Reauthorization bill in 2005. Any number of issues may come up in this process; it is an opportunity for changes, some of which FASEB’s member societies may not agree with.

• FASEB is a major advocate for government support for research. This is a difficult time for medical and scientific research. The current administration’s focus is more on education than on health issues. Many lawmakers are saying that NIH has already received plenty of funding in the last few years. This attitude, along with an expensive war, a distressed economy and huge deficits, makes it hard to find the money for NIH. The NSF budget is also hurting, but for a somewhat different reason: NSF is funded through the VA-HUD bill which also funds veterans and other strong constituencies that currently have more clout than NSF. FASEB continues to work to educate our elected representatives about the benefits of science; individuals can contribute to this effort as well.

For a full review of FASEB’s activities and information on the member societies that make up this federation, please visit http://www.faseb.org. ISCB members that would like to be advised of FASEB activities and updates on a regular basis can select this new mailing list option within the membership registration process. Alternatively, current members can login to their current account to update mailing list options. See http://www.iscb.org/membership.shtml for links to new membership or current login.