Life with FASEB for three decades

Abstract

Abstract As APS President‐elect, I participated in the Williamsburg Retreat in 1989 to address the issue of keeping member societies in FASEB. The Retreat led to focusing on public affairs and reducing society dues. As APS President, I met with leadership of ASBMB to convince them to remain in the restructured FASEB. As the first elected President of the new FASEB in 1992, I organized member societies to participate in NIH Strategic Plan meeting to maintain the priority of funding of unsolicited investigator‐initiated research instead of a top‐down approach. A new Office for Policy Analysis and Research was established to pursue proactive public affairs activities and strategic thinking. In response to qualitative and quantitative threats to biomedical research funding, I worked with FASEB member societies and the Public Affairs office to mobilize letter‐writing and a petition drive to the President and Members of US Congress, resulting in >20,000 signatures. This led to a 6.1% increase of FY94 funding, instead of a cut. When FASEB’s annual meeting was changed to Experimental Biology (EB), I worked with EB to ensure the smooth transition. I organized Tang Prize Lectures which became the highly successful EB plenary lectures. My involvement with FASEB was helpful in the formation of NIBIB in 2001 and recruitment of BMES as a member society in 2008.

Keywords

• biomedical research funding
• experimental biology
• National Institutes of Health
• public affairs
• United States Congress
• Williamsburg Retreat