It’s OK to use the term “pH†when talking with a member of Congress – but not the word “intracellular.â€
This was one of the rules of thumb that emerged from Adam Katz’ talk at the GDBBS Student Research Symposium Friday afternoon. Katz, a public policy specialist at Research America, was advising Emory graduate students and faculty on the best ways to advocate for biomedical research. His theme: get personal.
That is, he advised scientists to meet in person with members of Congress or people on their staffs, try to get them to remember you, and invite them to come visit your laboratory. Make a personal connection.
Scientists have historically been reluctant to get involved in advocacy efforts, for a variety of reasons — Katz joked that students had asked him whether Washington DC is more Cheap NFL Jerseys like West Wing or House of Cards, although lobbyists [see panel] are portrayed as being shady on both shows.
Polling data indicates that most Americans had a negative reaction to the stagnation in spending on medical research in recent years, Katz said. Public support for federal funding of medical research remains strong. Research America, which advocates for medical research funding in Washington DC, has an extensive set of data on these types of polling questions, updated every year.
However, many Americans have a difficult time naming a living scientist, no matter whether that person studies neurons or galaxies, Katz said. [See below for an image of him talking about this, courtesy of Keith Wilkinson.] Members of Congress are politicians: they respond to their constituents. Yet politicians complain that they only hear from scientists when times are tough, Katz said. They need to imagine a real face with positive associations, not just abstract ideas, when they’re making decisions about what to cut and what to preserve.
“Without a relationship, you’re basically just asking strangers for money,†he said.
One misconception that Katz sought to dispel was that the constrictions on federal research spending imposed by sequestration are over. Despite the recent budget deal, sequestration is set to last for the next nine years, starving research along the way, he said. (Forgive me for not going into the details.)
More advice: Do your homework and have state-specific statistics and stories available. Know your Congressman or Senator. Coordinate with Emory’s Office of Governmental and Community Affairs. Research America has even held an “advocacy academy” for postdocs.
IMP graduate student Ankita Chowdhury is one of the organizers of Atlanta Science Advocacy, whose members are planning to meet with members of Congress to push for research funding. Atlanta Science Advocacy includes students from Emory, Georgia Tech and Georgia State, she says:
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