CEO's Corner

  CEO's Corner   
 

The election is a week away and I encourage each of you to make a plan and vote. This is our opportunity to make our voices heard to create change to improve the world around us. But it’s not enough to simply vote, it is imperative that each of us continue to use our voices to address science policy and social justice causes we care about. 

Our everyday lives are surrounded by scientific discovery and innovation that have improved our quality of life, from our smart devices tracking our heart rate to energy efficient cars to small robots vacuuming our floors. We often take for granted the scientific advances that are less visible but incredibly important such as vaccine development, new treatments or more efficient and reliable testing processes. With all these discoveries, also comes the responsibility for oversight, protection, and using the data to inform decisions in the best interest of our communities and to promote health and prevent diseases.   

Government funding to support research is vital to our work and helps move scientific advances forward that foster economic productivity, social prosperity and good health. Generally, most policymakers do not have a scientific background, which can lead to the distrust of science and lessen the impact for change. There is an ongoing need for stronger partnership and alignment of science, policy, and public health in the U.S. in order to ensure continued support for scientific research from the government. 

This year we have seen how the pandemic has brought to light the doubting of science from the recommendations to wear masks to slow the spread of COVID-19. Rather than the focus of masks being to protect lives, we have instead seen how their purpose has changed to become political symbols. It is our responsibility to make sure policymakers understand the value of science and have access to the best scientific knowledge and data available in order to build a foundation to improve the health of all through policy. 

Our scientific community has made many advances because we’ve had the opportunity to bring brilliant minds from across the globto our universities and institutes. But restrictions on immigration visas have halted or slowed opportunities for top researchers from around the world to come to the U.S. for academic partnerships. We need to foster international partnerships through opportunities for visiting researchers, through work visas in the U.S., to creatively identify solutions and strengthen international relations in the biomedical world. Global collaboration and exchange are vital to the research ecosystem as we work to improve the health of individuals across the globe from first world to third world nations.   

We, as scientists, cannot remain complacent in our academic and research bubbles.  We must continue to speak up, make big impacts, share our data and research and be a part of the conversation to inform policy at all levels of our government. Through our research and innovation, we can be the driving force to create change to improve the lives of individuals globally.  

Ali Khademhosseini 

 
     

 

 

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