ASCB Council and Committee Members on the Hill

Representative Trey Hollingsworth (R-IN) met with Soni Lacefield, Holly Goodson, Sadie Wignall, Kerry Bloom, and Celia Garcia.
Representative Trey Hollingsworth (R-IN) met with Soni Lacefield, Holly Goodson, Sadie Wignall, Kerry Bloom, and Celia Garcia.

In June members of the ASCB Council were joined by members of various ASCB committees for a series of meetings on Capitol Hill. The group met with senators, representatives, and congressional staff.

The Council members included ASCB President Andrew Murray, President-Elect Eva Nogales, Treasurer Gary Gorbsky, Secretary Kerry Bloom, Omar Quintero, Bob Goldstein, George Langford, and CEO Erika Shugart. They were joined by WICB member Diane Barber; Public Policy Committee members Holly Goodson, Adriana Bankston, and Doug Cyr; Public Information Committee member Soni Lacefield; Membership Committee member Sadie Wignall; and International Affairs Committee member Celia Garcia.

The ASCB members had 24 meetings with congressional offices representing eight states. During their meetings the Council and committee members thanked the representatives for their strong support for funding for both the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Science Foundation (NSF). They made the point that dependable and sustainable funding for both the NIH and NSF is important for the U.S. biomedical research community.

The importance of immigration to American science was also a topic in each meeting. Surprisingly, many members of Congress do not make the connection between an open immigration policy and continued success of basic life science research in the United States.

About the Author:


Kevin M. Wilson serves as Director of Public Policy and Media Relations for The American Society for Cell Biology. He's worked as the Legislative Director for U.S. Congressman Robert Weygand (D-RI) and as a Legislative Assistant for U.S. Senator Claiborne Pell (D-RI). He has a BA in Politics and American Government from the Catholic University of America. Email: kwilson@ascb.org