AAAS Policy
Alert -- March 3, 2010
Budget News
On February 24 John P. Holdren, Director of the White House
Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) testified before both
the House Science and Technology Committee and the House Appropriations
Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science. Holdren's testimony
before the S&T
Committee, an authorizing body that does not
appropriate funds for programs, provided an overall picture of the
President's budget proposals for R&D in FY 2011. Committee Chair
Bart Gordon was supportive of the general shape of the proposals,
although several committee members had pointed
questions about a number
of issues, particularly the proposed cancellation of NASA's
Constellation Program. In the appropriations hearing, several members
of the subcommittee were even more critical of the proposed
Constellation termination.
Reports Explore Stimulus Funds'
Impacts on
Biomedical Research. Biomedical research has benefited from the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and, in turn, will
benefit society, according to several recent reports coinciding with
the measure's one-year anniversary. A report by the coalition
ScienceWorksforUS
highlights examples of groundbreaking science and
infrastructure investments made through ARRA. Another by the
Association
of American Medical Colleges details how medical schools
and teaching hospitals are using ARRA funds to advance scientific
innovation and stimulate economic growth. A third report by the
Federation
of American Societies for Experimental Biology focuses on
the NIH summer research program, which has provided hands-on research
experience to thousands of students and teachers.
For up-to-date news
on the FY 2011 budget, visit the AAAS
R&D Budget and Policy Program
Website. Detailed coverage of the major R&D funding agencies
and
historical trends will appear in the AAAS
Report XXXV: Research and
Development FY 2011, to be published in April 2010.
Other
Congressional News
New Type of Visa Proposed for
Foreign Entrepreneurs. On
February 24 Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Richard Lugar (R-IN)
introduced a bill (S. 3029) that would provide a new type of visa to
allow foreign entrepreneurs to enter the U.S. The proposed EB-6
visa
would allow foreigners to enter the U.S. for two years if they can
secure at least $250,000 from U.S. investors in support of a start-up
venture. This proposal builds upon the EB-5 visa program, which allows
foreigners to enter the U.S. if they invest at least $1 million of
their own money in a new venture which creates at least ten jobs.
Senate Judiciary Committee
Leaders Reach Patent Reform Agreement. After
a relatively quiet period on the contentious issue of patent reform,
Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Ranking
Member Jeff Sessions (R-AL) have struck a deal on the legislation,
according to CongressDaily.
The deal would preserve the "core of the
compromise" included in the patent reform bill the committee passed
last year, but changes several provisions, including the language
dealing with challenges to approved patents, and raises the threshold
for initiating patent re-examinations.
Executive
Branch
Upcoming OSTP Events.
The President's Council of Advisors on
Science and Technology (PCAST) will hold its next
meeting on March 12
to discuss
agriculture research, food safety, and nanotechnology. In
addition, a committee of the interagency National Science and
Technology Council (NSTC) will hold a public
meeting on March 30-31 to
discuss the status of environmental, health, and safety research on
nanomaterials, as well as the ethical, legal, and societal implications
(ELSI) associated with the field.
NIH Adjusts Definition of Human
Embryonic Stem Cells. The National Institutes of Health is
seeking
comment on a slight technical revision
of its definition of human
embryonic stem cells for the purpose of adding to the Stem Cell
Registry after realizing that the current definition--which specifies
that stem cells come from an embryo in the blastocyst stage, which
occurs
in humans around five days after fertilization--would exclude
stem cells derived from a fertilized ovum earlier in its development.
Comments are due March 25.
NIH and FDA Announce
Collaboration. The National Institutes of Health
and the Food and Drug Administration have announced an initiative
designed to boost translational research--that is, to speed up the
process of improving medical therapies as a result of scientific
breakthroughs. The agency will establish a Joint NIH-FDA Leadership
Council and will put nearly $7 million over three years toward
regulatory science, which would focus on better approaches to
evaluating the safety and effectiveness of medical products. Regulatory
science is one of seven new
initiatives to be funded through the NIH
Common Fund, a fund that supports collaborative research among several
NIH institutes and centers.
FDA Announces Members and First
Meeting of Tobacco Products Scientific
Advisory Committee. The Food and Drug Administration has
announced that
the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee, an advisory body
required by the Tobacco Control Act, will hold its first
meeting March
30-31. The agency also named the members
of the Committee.
Commerce
Department Holds Forum on Commercializing University R&D. On
February 24 the Department of Commerce held a forum
on the
commercialization of university research and development. The
invitation-only event included representatives from universities,
industry, and the federal government. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke
stated
that he hoped the participants would address critical issues
such as how universities can best balance the competing demands between
pursuing fundamental research and research that can "spawn new
industries;" and how best to integrate universities into regional
economic development strategies.
Elsewhere
South Dakota Legislature
Considering Resolution on "Balanced" Teaching
of Climate Change. By an 18-17 vote, the South Dakota State
Senate
passed a concurrent
resolution on the teaching of climate change in
public schools, urging that the subject be taught in a "balanced and
objective manner" and stating that the debate on global climate change
is "subject to varying scientific interpretations." The Senate amended
an earlier
resolution (HCR 1009) that passed the state's House of
Representatives 36-30, which had included a recommendation to include
in classroom instruction discussion of "a variety of climatological,
meteorological, astrological, thermological, cosmological, and
ecological dynamics that can effect [sic] world weather phenomena and
that the significance and interrelativity of these factors is largely
speculative." The bill now returns to the House.
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IPCC Announces Independent Review. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has announced that an independent panel will review its policies and procedures. IPCC Chair Pachauri's statement noted, "We stand firmly behind the rigour and robustness of the 4th Assessment Report," but also "recognize the criticism that has been leveled at us and the need to respond." Details on the review will be announced in the coming weeks.
Changes Proposed to Climate Data Collection. Delegates to a meeting of the World Meteorological Organization approved in principle a plan proposed by the UK Meteorological Office to collect additional temperature data to improve climate change science and new procedures to allow independent scrutiny of the data.
Israeli Science Education Official Casts Doubt on Evolution. Gavriel Avital, the chief scientist in Israel's Education Ministry, was quoted questioning the validity of the scientific theory of evolution in the daily newspaper Haaretz, saying that students should "pursue and grapple with other opinions"--presumably referring to intelligent design/creationism. He was also critical of the scientific consensus on climate change. A number of Israeli scientists, including two Nobel Laureates, have called for Avital's dismissal.
People in the News. - Raynard Kington is stepping down as deputy director of the National Institutes of Health to become president of Grinnell College in Iowa.
- NIH Director Francis Collins announced on March 1 that veteran science policy lobbyist Francis Patrick ("Pat") White, most recently Vice President for Federal Relations at the Association of American Universities (AAU), has been named Associate Director for Legislative Policy and Analysis for NIH.
- Austrian social scientist Helga Nowotny was unanimously elected President of the European Research Council. She said that she plans to continue the endeavor "to make frontier research the dynamic element in confronting the challenges ahead."
Archived issues of AAAS Policy Alert can be found at http://www.aaas.org/spp/
Publisher: Alan I. Leshner
Editor: Steve Nelson
Contributors: Joanne Carney, Mark Frankel, Erin
Heath, Barbara Jasny, Earl Lane, Gretchen Seiler, Al Teich, Kasey
White, Ric Weibl, Brad Wible
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