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2004 Public Affairs Committee Report
The Public Affairs Committee advises the APS Council on
policy issues and how best to address them. The Committee also informs
Council of specific initiatives undertaken by the Commit-tee itself. The
Committee recognizes the importance of careful integration of its activities
with Council’s goals as well as with activities of the Animal Care and
Experimentation Committee, the Communications Committee, and the Science
Policy Committee of the FASEB. It has worked closely with these groups to
define and reach common goals. Likewise, the Public Affairs Committee works
closely with the APS Office of Public Affairs both to coordinate activities
and to more effectively communicate relevant issues to Council and, when
appropriate, to the general membership.
A major focus of the Public Affairs Committee is to
advocate for federal funding of biomedical research. Results of the past
year’s advocacy have been disappointing in that regard. With much of the
legislative and executive attention being devoted to funding the wars in
Iraq and Afghanistan and with the economy’s having inhibited discretionary
spending, funding for NIH in particular suffered and lost some of the ground
that had been gained during the preceding five-year period when its budget
had been doubled. Prospects for the NIH budget are reportedly more dismal
for the upcoming fiscal year. Some projections even suggest that the
Administration will seek to propose an actual reduction of the NIH budget.
APS and its Public Affairs Committee continue to work with elected
representatives to assure their having all the information that they need to
realize that stagnant (or declining) funding of NIH, VA, and NSF would have
a negative short- and long-term impact on the health of research in our
country. However, it is essential that members of the Society take every
possible opportunity to act as their own advocates in that regard.
In order to promote advocacy among its members, APS had
developed and enhanced a Legislative Action Center or LAC on the APS web
site. In the past year the Federation of American Societies for Experimental
Biology (FASEB) purchased software that further enhanced the capabilities of
the LAC and, with the support of APS, accepted responsibility for
maintaining that site. The LAC can now be accessed on the FASEB web site at
http://capwiz.com/faseb/home/. The Public Affairs Committee urges APS
members to act through that site to promote issues that they feel are
critical for American biomedical science.
The Public Affairs Committee and APS continue to work
closely with FASEB on numerous other public affairs issues. These include
scientific ethics, peer review, use of animals in research, postdoctoral
training and postdoctoral support. Liaison with FASEB’s Office of Public
Affairs is affected through membership on the FASEB Science Policy Committee
(SPC). The Chair of the Public Affairs Committee is a permanent member of
the SPC, which meets monthly. In the past year the SPC voted to have the
Chair of the APS Public Affairs Committee serve as the Chair of the SPC
subcommittee on use of animals in research and to have the Chair of the APS
Animal Care and Experimentation (ACE) Committee serve as an ad hoc member.
The subcommittee is currently developing a new entry, one that deals with
animals in research, to the FASEB website and anticipates having that site
open within the next year. The FASEB website on animals will be linked to
the APS website as well as to others that promote and inform about the value
of animal research. In the past year the Chair of the Public Affairs
Committee has also been actively involved in FASEB’s efforts to work with
the Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) to promote funding for, and
philosophical support for, basic research within that agency. There has been
a dramatic change in leadership within the DVA and the new leadership has
shown great willingness to partner with the scientific community in
directing DVA research. It will be critically important for APS and FASEB to
continue their support for DVA research as well as for NIH and other
federally supported research programs inasmuch as a number of members of
Congress have openly criticized administration of these agencies and have
stood in the way of the budgetary support that the agencies need to keep
American science at the forefront.
The Public Affairs Committee continues to work with
officials at NIH in efforts to promote training and retention of scientists
in integrative or systems physiology. APS efforts have complimented those of
other FASEB societies such as ASPET and AAA. The organizations seek to
emphasize the need for development of scientists who can bring the
innovations allowed by molecular biological approaches to whole animal
research and the study of mechanisms that underlie systems physiology. Such
a multifaceted approach to the study of physiology is in keeping with the
NIH Roadmap and promotes integrative and systems science as a partner with
more cellular approaches.
The Public Affairs Committee recognizes that it is an
instrument of the Society as a whole and must work to respond to the needs
of the Society as directed by its leadership. Within the next year Council
and the Executive leadership of APS will seek to revitalize the Society’s
strategic plan. To promote Public Affairs and make it even more responsive,
the Committee will seek to enhance further its communication with Council
and with the Section Advisory Committee, thus providing an expanded avenue
for membership to have the needs that it recognizes addressed. Implicit in
that responsibility, however, is recognition that advocacy cannot be
effectively applied through committees. It is the responsibility of each
member of the Society to speak forth on issues that affect us all. Public
Affairs will continue to seek to provide members the most “user-friendly”
means to do so.
William T. Talman, Chair
Council Actions
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Council accepted the report of the Public Affairs
Committee.
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Council approved the necessary funding for
a joint meeting between the Public Affairs
Committee, the Executive Cabinet and the PA Committee’s Council Liaison to
be held, if necessary, after the Strategic Plan meeting.
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Council approved the request to continue
participation in the “Bridging the Sciences” coalition.
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