CPA Session at IMMUNOLOGY 2014™
At IMMUNOLOGY 2014™, the Committee on Public Affairs (CPA) hosted the following session:
AAI Public Affairs Celebrated Its 25th Anniversary at IMMUNOLOGY 2014™
Anniversary Celebration Featured
The Capitol Steps
AAI celebrated the 25th anniversary of its public affairs program with a performance by the nationally-acclaimed, musical political satire group, The Capitol Steps. At a reception preceding the performance, AAI President Marc Jenkins, Ph.D., highlighted some of the most important accomplishments of the public affairs program and lauded its growth and increasing activity. According to Jenkins, “(w)hat started with a handful of hopeful AAI members a quarter century ago has evolved into a sophisticated and deliberate program which now involves not only about three dozen AAI members, including the very dedicated members of the Committee on Public Affairs, and two professional staff, but also hundreds of AAI members who speak up for what science needs to flourish.” Dr. Jenkins’ complete remarks are available here.
The Capitol Steps lived up to their well-deserved reputation, delivering a smart, energetic, and funny musical performance, that poked fun at politicians of all stripes. Other performances by the Steps can be viewed on their YouTube page.
Guests of AAI Public Affairs mingle at a reception prior to the performance by The Capitol Steps
AAI President Marc Jenkins offers remarks on the past and future of the AAI Public Affairs program
Several members of The Capitol Steps performed as European heads of state
Sally Rockey Presentation on NIH Extramural Policy
The CPA policy session at IMMUNOLOGY 2014™ featured Sally Rockey, Ph.D., NIH deputy director for extramural research and director of the NIH Office of Extramural Research (OER). The session, “Rock Talk-ing with Sally Rockey: The Issues, the Blog, and the Woman Behind It All,” included valuable information about recently instituted policies at NIH and the thought process behind those policies. Dr. Rockey also touched on some ideas that NIH was considering, including ways to enhance the reproducibility of NIH research and to broaden the training experiences of those in the biomedical research workforce. She also described how her blog, Rock Talk, can help scientists stay up-to-date on the latest changes in NIH extramural policy, and serve as a forum for questions, comments, and discussion.
AAI leaders and staff with NIH guest speaker Sally Rockey (middle)
AAI CPA Chair Elizabeth Kovacs (left) with NIH guest speaker Sally Rockey during the Q&A portion of the session