Mary Woolley

Mary Woolley's Weekly Letter: Fogging the Lens

By Mary Woolley on August 27, 2020

Dear Research Advocate, On (but mostly off) Capitol Hill : Neither the House nor Senate is expected to reconvene until after Labor Day. As things stand, it may be late September before a final COVID-19 emergency spending package takes shape. The longer the delay on that front, the greater the chances that a continuing resolution (CR) will be attached, flat-funding the government until after (potentially long after) the November elections. Sound the Alarm : If this no-action update sounds all-too-familiar, that’s because it is. The push and pull of differing funding priorities and election-year politics are fogging the lens such that the most important consideration – the crying need for...

Mary Woolley's Weekly Letter: Meeting the Moment

By Mary Woolley on July 30, 2020

Dear Research Advocate, Phase 3 enrollment is now underway for a number of COVID-19 vaccine clinical trials. That science has moved so quickly from first identification of the virus to Phase 3 trials, speaks to remarkable public-private sector collaboration. It also speaks to the absolute necessity of taxpayer investment in basic, discovery science over many years; a lesson we must not ignore as we plan responses to the pandemics that will surely follow. To help move the massive trial enrollment process along, NIH has launched the COVID-19 Prevention Trials Network (COVPN), merging networks already funded by NIAID for HIV and other infectious disease trials. Each of the Phase 3 clinical...

Mary Woolley's Weekly Letter: Daunting Challenges, Core Strengths

By Mary Woolley on July 2, 2020

Dear Research Advocate, Fourth of July, typically a day to unwind and celebrate, comes to us this year at a fraught time in our fight against a deadly pandemic. Evidence-based public health practices to mitigate the virus’s spread have been too often politicized and unheeded, leading to adherence gaps by some that place many others at risk. Cautious optimism from public health experts that we were on a path to containing the virus is being overtaken by alarm. Public health officials in communities across the country are being physically threatened while laboring under poorly-resourced conditions. An important time to hear from Dr. Tom Frieden, former CDC Director and current President and...

Mary Woolley's Weekly Letter: The Solutions Will Come From Science

By Mary Woolley on June 25, 2020

Dear Research Advocate, Mentioned here last week and the focus of an alliance member webinar earlier this week, the President issued an executive order (EO) extending and imposing new restrictions on worker and student visas. Our statement expresses opposition . Let’s face it — this EO essentially forces our nation to shoot itself in the foot. Bernat Navarro-Serer of the Johns Hopkins Science Policy Group (and a Research!America 2019 student microgrant recipient ) makes the case for sustaining our nation’s long-standing student visa programs . From the article: “ ...a suspension on work visas sends a strong message to current and future students seeking an education in the United States:...

Mary Woolley's Weekly Letter: Partnership and Progress

By Mary Woolley on June 18, 2020

Dear Research Advocate, Our nation’s research enterprise – and thus our society – has long benefitted mightily from the contributions of foreign-born scientists and engineers. In fact, nearly a third of the STEM workforce is foreign-born . A series of immigration-related actions by the executive branch, some already taken and others considered imminent, imperil academic, industry, and independent research across the country with consequences for our economy, our health, and our well-being. We are hosting an alliance member meeting on the state of play and advocacy opportunities next Monday, June 22 at 2 p.m. ET. Alliance members can register here . On Capitol Hill : Recent reports are that...

Mary Woolley's Weekly Letter: Yesterday, Tomorrow, and Every Day

By Mary Woolley on June 11, 2020

Dear Research Advocate, You may have paused yesterday in solidarity with the young scientists who galvanized the #ShutDownSTEM movement to listen and reflect on your personal and your organization’s role in ending racism; I did. The very first research project I was involved in worked hard to recruit its study volunteers from a diverse community; we were only modestly successful. That was more than 40 years ago; ensuring diversity in clinical trials is still a major obstacle. Overcoming health disparities is a related challenge, one that calls for — no, demands — far greater attention. Witness COVID-19. We may not know all the factors that are causing dramatically disproportionate harm to...

Mary Woolley's Weekly Letter: Assuring a Fair and Just Society

By Mary Woolley on June 4, 2020

Dear Research Advocate, Our nation is ailing; anxious and eager for healing and for solutions that can seem out of reach. Research!America often speaks about science as a way to ‘find the solutions to what ails us’ – given the opportunity, science has and will continue to deliver solutions. But it isn’t only science that we need right now, as gaping wounds of injustice against black Americans assail us. Advocacy and action are needed to assure a fair and just society. Alexis de Tocqueville, that enduringly wise observer of our nation, said: “The greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than any other nation, but rather in her ability to repair her faults.” Let’s all get to...

Mary Woolley's Weekly Letter: Building Back Better

By Mary Woolley on May 28, 2020

Dear Research Advocate, The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 has surpassed 100,000 lives. If anything other than tragedy and destruction lies in the wake of COVID-19, let it be the courage to see, clearly, the world we live in now. Our nation is ill-equipped for crises, ill-equipped for economic competitiveness, and under-resourced to speed progress against other health threats that kill just as surely, if not as rapidly, as COVID-19. Ignoring the pandemic’s message is all too tempting. Let’s not succumb to it. As National Academy of Sciences President Dr. Marcia McNutt advises, we must learn from the pandemic and “build back better”. Speaking of building back better, this Washington Post...

Mary Woolley's Weekly Letter: Public Sentiment

By Mary Woolley on May 21, 2020

Dear Research Advocate, Researchers at Yale and George Mason University released a report this week reflecting Americans’ attitudes on climate change, including its impact on health. Queried in April, in the midst of the pandemic, respondents registered high levels of concern, surprising researchers who had anticipated the pandemic would have displaced climate as a top issue. That Americans link climate change and health correlates with our own survey data from earlier this year (pre-pandemic) in America Speaks! Poll Data Summary . Just released today, a new Pew Research Center report shows that a growing number of Americans, surveyed recently, say they have a “great deal of confidence in...

Mary Woolley's Weekly Letter: Point to the Victories

By Mary Woolley on May 14, 2020

Dear Research Advocate, On Tuesday, Research!America sent a letter to HHS Secretary Alex Azar asking him to clarify the decision to end NIH grant funding for an ongoing, EcoHealth Alliance research initiative focused on pandemic preparedness. We urge the Secretary to shed needed light on this significant (on many levels) decision. On Capitol Hill : House Democrats have released a draft emergency spending bill, the HEROES Act . This discussion draft includes $4 billion for the Office of the Director at NIH, of which “not less than $3 billion” would be set aside to help academic institutions absorb COVID-19 related shutdown and start-up costs. (This is $7 billion shy of the recovery costs NIH...

Mary Woolley

Mary Woolley's Weekly Letter: Fogging the Lens

Mary Woolley's Weekly Letter: Meeting the Moment

Mary Woolley's Weekly Letter: Daunting Challenges, Core Strengths

Mary Woolley's Weekly Letter: The Solutions Will Come From Science

Mary Woolley's Weekly Letter: Partnership and Progress

Mary Woolley's Weekly Letter: Yesterday, Tomorrow, and Every Day

Mary Woolley's Weekly Letter: Assuring a Fair and Just Society

Mary Woolley's Weekly Letter: Building Back Better

Mary Woolley's Weekly Letter: Public Sentiment

Mary Woolley's Weekly Letter: Point to the Victories

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