FASEB Advocates Brave the Winds and Storm the Hill

By: Ellen Kuo
Thursday, March 23, 2023
On March 15, 45 FASEB advocates from academic, industry and research institutions took their case to Capitol Hill to adequately fund the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Department of Energy Office of Science, Agriculture Food and Research Initiative, and the Veterans Affairs Medical and Prosthetic Research program for fiscal year 2024. This coincided with the White House release of detailed budget information for the various agencies making FASEB’s signature advocacy event very timely. Advocates had 75 meetings with congressional offices representing 27 states and 25 FASEB member societies. There were 45 Senate meetings and 30 House meetings with nearly equal representation between Republican and Democrat offices.

Since this was the first FASEB advocacy day in person since March 2019, advocates were excited to see congressional staffers and members in person as were staff. The personal stories shared by advocates were powerful tools as the researchers talked about how they were struggling to keep their research moving forward with increased costs to fund not only equipment, but also people and animal models needed to conduct their work. Many of the researchers emphasized that the biomedical enterprise is a multidisciplinary team-based effort that contributes to the nation’s ability to remain competitive in science and technology internationally, which in turn strengthens our national security and promotes our values. Currently, FASEB has provided a breakdown by state, showing how previous funding for federal research has benefited people and institutions.

FASEB thanks all our advocates who took time out of their busy schedules to visit Washington, DC, and contribute to this effort. Read more about FASEB’s Capitol Hill Day by following #FASEBOnTheHill on Twitter.