Tag: American Association for the Advancement of Science

US affirmative action ruling may harm health equity

 8 July 2023
Volume 402, Issue 10396 

WORLD REPORT  Health and science groups warn the Supreme Court ‘s decision threatens workforce diversity and patient care. Susan Jaffe reports from Washington, DC.

Leading medical and scientific organisations have criticised the June 29 US Supreme Court decision severely limiting how colleges and universities consider an applicant’s race in the admissions process. A 6 to 3 majority abandoned 45 years of legal precedent protecting affirmative action, which is widely expected not only to reduce the number of Black and Latinx college students but also roll back their representation in medicine, law, science, and other postgraduate programmes, diversity advocates say.  [Continued here.] …

US plan to shield science from “inappropriate influence”

Volume 401, Issue 10375
11 February 2023 

 

WORLD REPORT  The Biden administration is launching a new initiative on scientific integrity in federal agencies following multiple lapses. Susan Jaffe reports from Washington, DC.

Just a week after Joe Biden was sworn in as president in January, 2021, he created a multi-agency Task Force on Scientific Integrity to restore “trust in government through scientific integrity and evidence-based policy making”…Last month, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy released A Framework for Federal Scientific Integrity and Practice, a follow-up to the task force’s 2022 recommendations that provides a blueprint for implementation. [Continued here.] …

US election 2020: research and health institutions

Volume 396, Number 10259

24 October 2020

 

WORLD REPORT   How will the NIH, CDC, and FDA change if President Donald Trump wins a second term or if his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, defeats him? Susan Jaffe reports from Washington, DC. 

Whoever wins the presidency needs to “restore the CDC and improve it by letting [scientists] know that they will have an opportunity to do the best science and make the best recommendations…” says James Curran, dean of the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University in Atlanta. [Continued here.]…

Trump administration limits fetal tissue research

Volume 393    Number 10189         15 June 2019   
WORLD REPORT    The move could threaten medical research advances, say scientists, as acquisition of new fetal tissue for research is substantially hindered. Susan Jaffe reports.              

“Many discoveries now in clinical practice and wide research use have come from human fetal tissue”, said Irving Weissman, director of the Stanford Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine. “For these, there was—and still is—no substitute for human fetal tissue.”

…Anti-abortion groups praised the new policy, which would “separate federal research funding from the abortion industry”, said Melanie Israel, a research associate at the conservative Heritage Foundation… Yet how the new Trump research policy would reduce abortions is still unclear. “They are conflating pro-life issues and abortion with research”, said Jennifer Zeitzer, public affairs director at the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. “But there’s no evidence that women are getting abortions so they can donate fetal tissue for research.”  [Continued here.]  …

Scientists and physicians run for office in the USA

 Volume 391, Number 10131   

 28 April 2018

 

WORLD REPORT   Frustrated by what they say is the US Government’s disregard for science, more scientists and physicians are entering politics.  Susan Jaffe, The Lancet’s Washington correspondent, reports.

Nuclear engineer Elaine Luria running for Congress in southeast Virginia (photo/elaineforcongress.com)

Scientists, physicians, engineers, and their supporters surprised many people—and maybe themselves—when they assembled in cities across the USA a year ago demanding an end to President Donald Trump’s Administration’s so-called war on science, which has attacked climate change, environmental protection laws, and funds for biomedical research, among other targets.

But, for some critics, protests are not enough. Instead of appealing to elected officials, now they want to take their place.

“…More and more scientists realise that they have… an obligation to see that the idea of science is defended, that evidence is respected, and that the conditions for science to thrive are respected”, said Rush Holt, chief executive officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.  [Continued here.]  …

High stakes for research in US 2018 budget negotiations

Volume 390, Number  10099
 9 September 2017

WORLD REPORT    As Congress considers how to fund the government next year, scientists hope spending for research will not be curtailed. Susan Jaffe, The Lancet’s Washington correspondent, reports.  

The dramatic defeat of the Republicans’ Affordable Care Act (ACA) repeal legislation still looms over the US Capitol as Congress reconvenes this month for more tough decisions, including many that will affect health and science research programmes.  …The prospects for science funding will depend on competing budget pressures and political fissures. “There are a lot of moving parts and a lot of uncertainty”, said Matt Hourihan, at the American Association for the Advancement of Science. “And while a spending deal [agreement] is certainly possible, it’s hard to see how they get there from here.” [Continued here]…

Science appointments in the USA

  Volume 389, Number  10088
    24 June 2017

WORLD REPORT    Slow appointments and vacant positions in federal agencies challenge the stability of research in the USA.   Susan Jaffe, The Lancet’s Washington correspondent, reports.  

     As President Donald Trump rolls out his domestic agenda, his proposed budget cuts and lingering vacancies in key federal agencies have rattled some people in the biomedical research and science community.
     “This has been the most anxious time in science that I have seen in this country”, said Rush Holt, chief operating officer at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), which represents 250 scientific societies and academies serving 10 million members. Holt cited a litany of reasons: “fake news” that distorts science, “policy making based on wishful thinking rather than evidence, funding proposals that are nonsensical, and unfilled positions in government agencies”.  [Continued here]  

 

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US health and science advocates gear up for battle over EPA

lancet cover 2Volume 389, Number  10075 

25  March 2017 

WORLD REPORT    The Trump administration’s proposed budget makes large cuts to the US Environmental Protection Agency.  Susan Jaffe, The Lancet’s Washington correspondent, reports. 

As Oklahoma Attorney General, Scott Pruitt represented his state in more than a dozen lawsuits challenging the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) efforts to limit air and water pollution. Several cases sought to block President Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan aimed at reducing the greenhouse gas emissions from coal plants linked to climate change.

…Less than a year later, Pruitt and his opponents have switched sides. President Donald Trump appointed Pruitt to lead the EPA and now those opponents accuse the Trump administration of federal overreach by seeking to undermine key environmental laws.

The administration has already taken steps to begin rolling back some environmental rules issued by the EPA under President Barack Obama (panel). And last week, Trump unveiled his proposed federal budget, which reduces federal non-defence spending by US$54 billion, including a 31% ($2·6 billion) cut in EPA funding—more than any other domestic agency.  [Continued here] …