BUzz Bits: Trump Transition
BU IN DC
School of Public Health Dean Sandro Galea delivered a presentation on population health at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on January 24.
Virginia Sapiro of the College of Arts & Sciences addressed the March, Act and Make an Impact symposium on January 20.
BUZZ BITS: TRUMP TRANSITION
- The Trump Administration asked Dr. Francis Collins to remain as director of the National Institutes of Health for an undefined period of time. He is one of more than 50 senior Obama Administration officials asked to remain through the transition.
- The Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee delayed its confirmation vote on Betsy DeVos as Secretary of Education until January 31 to provide additional time for Senators to review her records.
- News outlets have reported that the White House has ordered some agencies to temporarily cease issuing grant awards, but most agencies have characterized the effort as a routine pause in operations while a new Administration reviews agency activities.
RESEARCH IS LAUDED BY TRUMP, NOMINEES
President Donald J. Trump and his Cabinet nominees have recently expressed support for research in a variety of public remarks. Here’s a brief roundup:
- In his Inaugural Address, President Trump said the United States was “ready to unlock the mysteries of space, to free the Earth from the miseries of disease…”
- Secretary of Health and Human Services nominee Rep. Tom Price (R-GA) stated in one of his confirmation hearings that the National Institutes of Health “is a treasure for our country” and that he supported the recent funding boost given to the agency by Congress.
- Secretary of Energy nominee Governor Rick Perry said at his confirmation hearing he supports “the academic and government mission of basic research, even when it will not yield benefits for a generation” and pledged to visit the agency’s national labs. He also acknowledged that the global climate is changing and that humans are a contributing factor.
- Secretary of Defense nominee James Mattis agreed with questions posed by Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) that the Department of Defense should invest in innovation and weigh a region’s intellectual resources and partnerships with universities when deciding where to locate research-based commands.
GRANTS NEWS YOU CAN USE
The National Institute on Aging (NIA) at the National Institutes of Health announced a new web site that will “give researchers a heads up about future funding possibilities.” The site lists research topics that have been approved by the NIA National Advisory Council on Aging, along with the corresponding NIA program staff responsible for shepherding the ideas into Funding Opportunity Announcements. For example, the site currently lists opportunities approved last week on topics ranging from elder mistreatment to the effects of aging on hematopoiesis.