Skip Navigation

  • join logo Join
  • give logo Give
  • advocate logo Advocate
  • publish logo Publish
Sign In
SfN 50th anniversary logo
  • Membership
    • Membership Overview
    • Member Benefits
      • Individual Member Benefits
      • Institutional Program Member Benefits
      • Sustaining Associate Member Benefits
    • Join or Renew
      • Automatic Renewals
      • Membership Dues by Category
    • Chapters
      • Resources for Chapters
      • Submit Annual Report
      • Start or Reactivate a Chapter
      • Chapter Directory
      • Chapter Video Challenge
      • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Member Directory
      • Sustaining Associate Member Directory
    • Professional Conduct
      • SfN Ethics Policy
      • Guidelines for Responsible Conduct Regarding Scientific Communication
      • Code of Conduct at SfN Events
      • Neuronline Digital Learning Community Guidelines
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Member Obituaries
  • Meetings
    • Meetings Overview
    • SfN Global Connectome: A Virtual Event
      • Abstracts
      • Exhibits
      • Registration
      • Sessions and Events
    • Neuroscience 2020
      • Neuroscience 2020 Announcement
      • Exhibits
    • Virtual Events
      • Upcoming Virtual Events
      • Past Virtual Events
    • Past and Future Annual Meetings
      • Neuroscience 2019
      • Neuroscience 2018
      • Search Past Annual Meeting Abstracts
      • Attendance Statistics
    • Meeting Policies and Guidelines
      • Code of Conduct at SfN Events
      • Guidelines for Participating in SfN Events
      • Photography & Recording Policy
      • Presenter Guidelines and Policies for SfN Events
    • Calendar
    • Meeting Awards
      • Trainee Professional Development Award
      • FENS Member Awards to SfN Annual Meeting
      • IBRO Member Awards to SfN Annual Meeting
      • JNS Member Awards to SfN Annual Meeting
      • Science Journalism Student Award
      • FENS Forum Awards
      • IBRO World Congress Awards
      • JNS Meeting Awards
  • Careers
    • Careers Overview
    • NeuroJobs Career Center
      • Job Seekers
      • Employers
      • Virtual Career Fair
    • Neuroscience Training Program Directory
    • Virtual Graduate School and Career Fair
    • Career Tools and Resources
      • Neurobiology of Disease Workshop
      • Scientific Short Courses
      • Responsible Conduct of Research Short Courses
      • Global Funding Sources
    • Higher Education and Training
      • Core Competencies
      • Graduate School Fair
      • Neuroscience Training Program Survey
      • IP Affiliate Registration
    • Awards
      • Lifetime
      • Early Career
  • Initiatives
    • Initiatives Overview
    • Awards
    • Neuronline
    • Confronting COVID-19
      • SfN Zoom Backgrounds
    • Leadership Development Program
      • Trainee Professional Development Award
    • Diversity Initiatives
      • Neuroscience Scholars Program
      • Latin American Training Program
    • Women and Neuroscience
      • Increasing Women in Neuroscience (IWiN) Courses & Toolkit
      • Celebration of Women in Neuroscience Event
      • Awards
    • Animals in Research
      • Support for Members and Institutions
      • Tools and Resources
      • Resources for Medical Students
    • Public Education Programs
      • Resources for Educators
      • Brain Awareness Video Contest
  • Advocacy
    • Advocacy Overview
    • Advocacy Network
      • The NeuroAdvocate Challenge
      • Advocacy Action Center
      • Advocacy Best Practices
      • Advocacy Network Newsletter
      • Advocacy Training Seminars
    • US Advocacy Programs
      • Capitol Hill Day
      • Connect with Policymakers
      • Early Career Policy Ambassadors
      • Partner with a Local Chapter
      • Engage the Media
    • Global Advocacy Programs
      • Global Neuroscience Initiatives
      • Global Funding
      • North American Programs
    • Science Funding
      • Advocacy Videos
      • Advocacy Resources
      • US Neuroscience Initiatives
      • Funding Priorities and Processes
    • Policy Positions
      • Statements and Testimony
      • Sign-On Letters
  • Outreach
    • Outreach Overview
    • BrainFacts.org
    • Find a Neuroscientist
    • Brain Awareness Campaign
      • Webinar: The ABC's of BAW
      • How to Get Involved
    • Awards
      • Award for Education in Neuroscience
      • Next Generation Award
      • Science Educator Award
  • Publications
    • Publications Overview
    • SfN News
    • JNeurosci
    • eNeuro
    • SfN Nexus
    • Neuroscience Quarterly
    • Annual Report
    • History of Neuroscience Autobiographical Chapters
  • About
    • About Overview
    • Mission and Strategic Plan
    • What We Do
      • Annual Report
      • Professional Conduct
      • Bylaws
      • Resolutions to the Bylaws
      • Strategic Partners
    • SfN 50th Anniversary Celebration
    • History of SfN
    • Environmental Commitment
    • Volunteer Leadership
      • SfN Presidents
      • Committees
      • Elections
    • History of Neuroscience
      • Autobiographical Chapters
      • Autobiographical Videos of Prominent Neuroscientists
      • Classic Papers
      • Neuroscience History Resources
      • Robert Doty's Chapter on Neuroscience
    • Careers and Staff
      • Staff List
  1. About
  2. Volunteer Leadership
  3. Committees
  4. Government and Public Affairs Committee

The Government and Public Affairs Committee guides and evaluates SfN advocacy activities and strategies that promote neuroscience research. Initiatives include educating policymakers about advances in research, their implications for public policy, their societal benefit, and continued scientific progress.

Roles and Responsibilities

  • Recommend strategies to achieve increased funding for the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.
  • Build and deploy a grassroots network to engage SfN members in advocacy at both state and federal levels. Alert members to contact Congress on key legislative issues.
  • Develop SfN policy positions on stem cell research, evolution, and mental health parity, among other issues.
  • Visit members of Congress to advocate for biomedical research funding and other priority legislative issues.
  • Collaborate with other international societies and partners in Mexico and Canada to support advocacy initiatives.
  • Participate in a variety of health and science advocacy coalitions.
  • Collaborate with patients, professional groups, political leaders, corporate partners, and other interested parties to advocate for the value of robust science funding.
  • Provide training at the local level about advocating for science funding.

The Government and Public Affairs Committee is part of the Public Outreach Committee Cluster, which also includes the Committee on Animals in Research and the Public Education and Communication Committee.

Mission

The Government and Public Affairs Committee engages in and evaluates SfN Advocacy activities and strategies to promote global neuroscience research. Activities include engaging and encouraging SfN membership to advocate their policymakers about scientific knowledge and recent developments in neuroscience research and their implications for public policy, societal benefit, and continued scientific progress.

Responsibilities

Monitor

  • Track U.S. federal legislation affecting neuroscience including biomedical research appropriations.
  • Coordinate with international partners to monitor the funding and regulatory environment regarding neuroscience across the globe.
  • Evaluate the effectiveness of the various coalitions in which the Society participates.
 

Advise

  • Serve as a source of information to Council on legislative or policy changes that could affect the conduct of neuroscience research.
  • Propose actions to Council that broaden and strengthen the coalitions supporting biomedical research throughout the advocacy community.
  • Recommend strategic partnerships with a broad array of organizations and individuals that support biomedical research.
  • Recommend to Council advocacy collaborations with international partner organizations, such as counterparts in Canada, Mexico, and umbrella organizations like FENS and IBRO.
  • Recommend strategies to support increased federal funding for NIH, NSF, and other U.S. federally-funded research agencies.
 

Represent

  • Provide committee representation to the board of the Coalition for Life Sciences (CLS), maximizing SfN's input in policy discussions and CLS's overarching plans to increase biomedical research funding.
  • Include a member of the Board of Directors from the American Brain Coalition Board on the committee when a seat is available.
 

Manage Activities

  • Organize the Public Advocacy Forum each year at the annual meeting.
  • Work for robust and predictable increases to appropriations for federal agencies supporting neuroscience research.
  • Organize advocacy training for neuroscientists at the local level on how to effectively educate the public and advocate to policymakers on behalf of neuroscience.
  • Notify U.S. members when they should contact their Congressional representatives on key issues, including participation in SfN's annual Hill Day.
  • Recruit strategic partners among industry leaders and additional members of the science and voluntary health communities, to put research to work for better health and quality of life.
  • Continue a leadership role in a broad array of organizations to bring together patient and professional groups in support of a shared agenda of expanding research.
  • Form strategic relationships with key political leaders who could and will help advance the cause of biomedical research.
 

Generate Policy Recommendations

  • Generate and recommend public position statements and legislative alerts on behalf of SfN about legislative or policy changes that affect the conduct of neuroscience for Council review.
 

Coordinate and Communicate

  • Ensure that relevant policy related information is communicated to the SfN membership.
  • Coordinate activities with the other committees in the Public Outreach Cluster, which also includes the Public Education and Communication Committee and the Committee on Animals in Research. The chair will serve as the committee's representative on the cluster steering committee.

Composition

The committee is composed of standard committee members who serve a three-year term, including representatives from Canada and Mexico and liaison members from the Membership & Chapters Committee, the Committee on Animals in Research, the Neuroscience Training Committee, and two SfN-appointed representatives to the board of the Coalition for Life Sciences (CLS), and the representative(s) to the board of the American Brain Coalition (ABC). The incoming chair serves as an ex officio member of the committee. Committee members and the chair are recommended by the Committee on Committees and approved by Council.

Schedule

The committee has two yearly meetings. The first occurs in the spring in Washington, DC, and is conducted in conjunction with visits to Capitol Hill. The second occurs during the annual meeting, during which planning for the next Public Advocacy Forum is done. Additional correspondence is conducted by e-mail and conference call, as needed, throughout the calendar year to address issues that arise between meetings of the full committee.

Government and Public Affairs Committee

Chairperson Term Ends
Moses V Chao, PhD, BA
NYU Langone Health
11/17/2021
Incoming Chair Term Ends
Lori L McMahon, PhD
UAB
11/16/2021
Members  
Lee L Rubin, PhD
Harvard University
11/14/2023
Roberta Diaz Brinton, PhD
University of Arizona
11/16/2022
David Q Beversdorf, MD
University of Missouri Columbia
11/17/2021
Jaideep S Bains, PhD
University of Calgary
11/16/2022
Mar Sanchez, PhD
11/14/2023
Derek L. Buhl, PhD
Takeda
11/16/2022
Consuelo Morgado-Valle, PhD
11/14/2023
Monica L Linden, PhD
11/17/2021
Abigail S Kalmbach, PhD
Columbia University / NYSPI
11/17/2021
Christopher W Cowan, PhD
Medical University of South Carolina
11/17/2021
Heather McKellar, PhD,MA
New York University
11/14/2023
Camilla Bellone
11/16/2022
Edward Bilsky
11/14/2023
Liaisons Term Ends
Huda Akil, PhD
University of Michigan
11/17/2021
Hollis T Cline, PhD
The Scripps Research Institute
11/17/2021
Helen S Mayberg, MD
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
11/16/2022

Featured

  • generic science image and SfN 50th Anniversary logo
    Call for Nominations Closes Soon, Nominate a Colleague
  • generic science image and SfN 50th Anniversary logo
    Visit the Upgraded NeuroJobs Career Center
  • SfN Global Connectme: A Virtual Event logo on scientific image; January 11-13
    Check Out Global Connectome's Diverse Speaker List
SfN Websites
  • BrainFacts.org logo
  • eNeuro logo
  • JNeurosci logo
  • Neuronline logo
Engage with SfN
  • join Join
  • give Give
  • advocate Advocate
  • publish Publish
Quick Links
  • SfN News
  • For Press
  • Calendar
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Code of Conduct
  • Jobs at SfN
Follow SfN
  • Facebook logo
  • Twitter logo
  • Instagram logo
  • LinkedIn logo
  • YouTube logo
  • RSS feed logo
SfN 50th Anniversary logo stating "Society for Neuroscience, celebrating 50 years. 1969-2019"
1121 14th Street NW, Suite 1010, Washington, D.C. 20005
(202) 962-4000
  • Accessibility Policy
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us

Copyright ©

Society for Neuroscience