ASBMB statement on sustaining U.S. scientific leadership in the new Congress and administration

The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology is eager to engage with the new administration and Congress to sustain U.S. scientific leadership and strengthen the nation’s leadership role in innovation. As a scientific society, we are committed to communicating why U.S. support for basic research remains essential to understanding biological processes and the resulting profound societal and economic benefits. Together, we can protect and advance America’s world-renowned biomedical research enterprise, which generates extraordinary health, economic and societal benefits that improve lives for millions of American families and people around the world.

A shared vision for American research leadership must include sustained, strong, bipartisan support for and investment in the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy and other key federal science agencies. Over decades, those agencies have funded transformative new biological insights and supported scientific training, generated countless new prevention and treatment strategies that save and improve millions of American lives, and provided the knowledge that fuels U.S. economic and industrial sectors across all 50 states. Without sustained support, the nation risks a weakened U.S. scientific enterprise and increased competition abroad. Today, American leadership in scientific discovery and innovation is being challenged on the global stage, and we must bolster our thriving research enterprise in the coming years to ensure American global strength.

Science also serves society by investigating, testing and communicating new knowledge on a given topic, and ASBMB urges policymakers to continue to support and incorporate sound, rigorously tested and widely validated scientific evidence when evaluating public policy choices. In service to that important work, ASBMB publishes and shares current and evolving understanding of biochemistry and molecular biology and helps to train the next generation of scientists. Moreover, with ASBMB community expertise spanning many subspecialities, we encourage our members to contribute to public dialogue on topics in their areas of professional knowledge and personal passion.

ASBMB will continue to engage public leaders to determine how the nation can best advance the work of these important federal agencies. Working together, we can ensure America leads through a new era of innovation and discovery.