ASBMB members head to Capitol Hill to advocate for NIH, NSF and DOE research funding

Members of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology will meet with lawmakers and their staffs on Wednesday in Washington, D.C., to discuss fiscal year 2025 appropriations for major federal science funding agencies.

Ann Stock, a professor at Rutgers and the president of the ASBMB, said the delegation will emphasize the valuable contributions that basic science researchers make to the U.S. biomedical enterprise.

“Investing in scientific funding, and especially basic scientific research, is necessary to support a thriving innovation pipeline,” Stock said. “The fundamental discoveries made every day in labs across America lay the foundation for future solutions, therapies and cures.”

The 26 life scientists headed to Capitol Hill include ASBMB elected leaders, members of the society’s Public Affairs Advisory Committee and graduates of its Advocacy Training Program, a three-month science policy externship.

In short, the group will ask for:

• $51.3 billion for the National Institutes of Health's FY 2025 budget to support its intramural and extramural programs that fuel the discovery-based biomedical research

• $11.9 billion for the National Science Foundation’s FY 2025 budget to support the funding of fundamental research across all scientific disciplines

• $9 billion for the Department of Energy’s FY 2025 budget to support its Office of Science and to support the national labs

The delegation will hold 63 meetings with the offices of U.S. senators and representatives.

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Ann West, a professor at the University of Oklahoma and chair of the ASBMB Public Affairs Advisory Committee, said the delegation will talk about the value of basic research, educate lawmakers about how federal funding for science affects the economies of their states, and convey ASBMB members’ everyday funding concerns.

“Scientists are pursuing the new discoveries that will lead to better health and wellbeing for the American people, and they are dedicated to training the next generation of scientists who will lead tomorrow’s U.S. scientific enterprise,” West said. “Yet flat federal funding isn’t keeping up with the growing costs of personnel, equipment and materials needed for this essential work. Moreover, we know that the nation wants to train and retain the very best talent, so we need to invest in our future through science funding. We’re going to share the real-life impacts of flat funding with lawmakers and urge them to increase funding and help drive advances at the front lines of discovery science.”

The ASBMB elected leaders attending Hill Day include:

• Ann Stock of Rutgers University, the ASBMB’s current president

• Joan Conaway of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, the ASBMB’s president-elect

• Ann West, a professor and vice president at the University of Oklahoma and chair of the ASBMB PAAC

• Jeffrey I. Brodsky, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh

• Steven Caplan, a professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center

• Kevin Gardner, a professor at City College of New York Advanced Science Research Center

• Olivia George, an assistant professor at the University of Hawai‘i–West O‘ahu

• Marc E. Gillespie, a senior vice provost and professor at St. John’s University

• Michael Grey, a staff scientist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

• Shantá Hinton, a professor at the College of William & Mary

• Jill Johnson, a professor at the University of Idaho

• Matthew Koci, a professor at North Carolina State University

• Karen Lewis, an associate professor at Texas State University

• Neil Marsh, a professor at the University of Michigan Medical School

• Himadri Pakrasi, a professor at Washington University in St. Louis

• Rick Page, a professor at Miami University

• Emily Pitsch, a graduate student at the University of Utah

• Ronald Wek, a professor at the Indiana University School of Medicine

• Jeffrey Wilusz, a professor at Colorado State University

The ATP participants attending include:

• Maksim Dolmat, a postdoctoral researcher at UC San Diego

• Sydney Haas, an undergraduate at New College of Florida

• Joselyn Landazuri, a graduate student at University of Washington

• ​Nidhi Shukla, postdoctoral researcher at Case Western Reserve University

• Justin Wang, a fellow at the National Academies

• Isha Verma, research staff at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor