Message From the President: Targeted Advocacy
John H. Morrison
It is gratifying to see the efforts of SfN’s NeuroAdvocates and advocacy partners bear fruit.
Earlier this summer, the Trump administration released its President’s Budget Request, which outlined proposed budgets for federal agencies in Fiscal Year (FY) 2026. The proposed budgets and policy changes for NIH and NSF would be catastrophic. NIH would have faced more than a 40% cut, which included an equally drastic downsizing of support for the BRAIN Initiative. NSF had a proposed budget of $3.9 billion, more than a 50% reduction from FY 2025.
Fortunately, Congress has indicated that it may have a different plan in mind. Before going on its August recess, the Senate Appropriations Committee passed a funding bill that protects NIH funding and rejects the administration’s effort to cap Facilities & Administrative (F&A) costs at 15%. In short, the Senate proposes a $400 million increase to the NIH base budget in FY 2026, with an accompanying $12 million increase to the BRAIN Initiative.
There is still a long way to go from the Senate’s bill to law. But for the first time in several months, we have some encouraging news related to U.S. science funding.
But for the first time in several months, we have some encouraging news related to U.S. science funding.
This Senate bill didn’t appear out of the ether. It is a result of all the activities SfN and its many organizational allies have undertaken to defend the biomedical research enterprise. And while we are clearly making an impact, it’s important that we don’t let up. Now is when we need to communicate — loudly, repeatedly, and to whoever will listen — about what the American public will lose if the president’s budget proposals are enacted.
Some of the Society’s current efforts are strategically focused on those in Congress who may be receptive to our messaging describing how drastic cuts to research spending will harm their constituents. SfN is collecting stories from members in these relevant Congressional districts and will be sharing them with lawmakers as they continue to debate the FY 2026 budget. At the same time, SfN members have been working with the Society and several other initiatives to publish op-eds in local newspapers across the country.
I am hopeful that our continued effort both online and in person will convince enough members of Congress to defend the funding and people driving the scientific discovery we have enjoyed for generations.
As we build toward Neuroscience 2025, I have good news for anyone who missed the meeting’s abstract submission window: building on the success from last year, Late-Breaking Abstracts for Neuroscience 2025 will be open September 3–10. These abstracts will be hosted in their own section of the poster floor and will be limited to the first 2,500 submissions. Also, SfN-Sponsored Socials and Neuroscience Meet-Ups have been combined into Neuroscience Networking Events to streamline and avoid confusion. Applications to host a Neuroscience Networking Event are open until October 23.
Finally, I’m counting down the days to the Presidential Special Lectures and Dialogues Between Neuroscience and Society lecture. The speakers and lecture topics (below) are inclusive of the wide variety of topics that encompass neuroscience — regardless of the glassware required.
Our Dialogues speaker, Nicolas Quillé, MW, highly credentialed wine professional, will present his framework for understanding wine tasting in the style of Robert Greene's three phases of mastery. Quillé will explain that wine tasting is a comprehensive neurological workout, engaging many brain regions through cross-modal integration of visual, olfactory, gustatory, and trigeminal inputs. The brain processes these inputs, making analytical judgments, articulating descriptive language, and forming emotional responses.
Moving to the four Presidential Special Lectures, classic models likened brain function to neuron networks, like telegraph systems. Earl K. Miller will share how emerging evidence suggests higher cognition relies on rhythmic oscillations or "brain waves" at the electric field level. This expands functionality, with "telegraph wires" also producing "radio waves" (electric fields) that rapidly spread influence. His lecture will discuss how these fields may facilitate large-scale organization, enabling executive control and energy-efficient analog computing.
Alzheimer’s disease is one of the most pressing medical issues of our time. In this lecture, Tara Spires-Jones discusses advances in understanding the role of synapses in disease pathogenesis, including the accumulation of pathological proteins within synapses, the involvement of glia in synapse degeneration, and trans-synaptic spread of pathology through the brain. The lecture will explore the importance of understanding synaptic pathology for developing life-changing treatments.
Sex differences in the brain are real, but they’re not what many people think of when they hear about them. Catherine S. Woolley will discuss some of the historical and current controversies surrounding sex differences in the brain; present evidence for different types of brain sex differences with an emphasis on molecular mechanisms of synaptic modulation; and explain the value of studying both sexes to ensure that advances in science and medicine have maximal impact for human health.
Fred H. Gage’s lecture will address the question: Why do we lose cognitive capacity and function as we age? New cellular models of human brain aging have led to a more comprehensive understanding of the cellular and molecular mechanisms that underly brain aging. Energy metabolism, inflammation, and genome instability combine to drive cognitive decline in age and disease.
I encourage you to take advantage of the advance registration rate for SfN members available now through October 6. In light of everything going on, it remains more important than ever for our community to come together. See you in San Diego!
