Gratitude
Members of Congress are back home this week for the Thanksgiving holiday. When they return in December, they’ll have just a few weeks (when the holidays are taken into account) to sort out the nine remaining FY26 spending bills to meet the new Jan. 30 deadline. One likelihood is that Congress will wait until January to address the larger bills, including Defense and “Labor-HHS” (which includes funding for such research and public health agencies as NIH, ARPA-H, CDC, AHRQ, and BARDA). The picture is cloudier when it comes to when the other bills, including the “CJS” bill, which includes funding for NSF and several other science agencies, will be considered.
Public Health Thank You Day: This past Monday we observed Public Health Thank You Day. This is a time each November when we express our support and appreciation for the public health workforce. These individuals work every day to protect and promote the health and well-being of individuals, families, and communities across the country. Thank you to all the public health heroes who are standing strong and safeguarding health for the American public.
The Genesis Mission: The president has issued an executive order (EO) establishing a new AI initiative, the Genesis Mission. According to the EO, the mission will “bring together our nation’s research and development resources – combining the efforts of brilliant American scientists, including those at our national laboratories, with pioneering American businesses; world-renowned universities; and existing research infrastructure, data repositories, production plants, and national security sites… to unleash a new age of AI‑accelerated innovation and discovery that can solve the most challenging problems of this century.” The text of the EO and accompanying fact sheet are an important read for R&D advocates, signaling the administration’s evolving perspective on the ecosystem. It is on the list of discussion topics for our upcoming alliance member-only meeting (see below). Note, if your organization is not a member of the alliance and would like to know more about membership, I hope you’ll get in touch with me or Donald Cook from our membership team.
Director of NIEHS: Kyle Walsh, Ph.D., was recently named the director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences(NIEHS), which is part of the NIH. In his role, he will also direct the National Toxicology Program. Prior to his selection at the NIEHS, Walsh headed the Neuro-epidemiology Lab at Duke University.
Golden Goose Award Nominations: The Golden Goose Awards help raise awareness about the long, bumpy, and not always soundbite-friendly path of scientific discovery. The awards honor researchers whose seemingly obscure, federally funded research has had a major impact on society. Nominations for the 2026 award cycle are now open! Submit your nomination by Dec. 12.
Upcoming Member-only Meeting: Join us on Wednesday, Dec. 3, at noon ET for an Alliance member-only Meeting with Garrett Devenney, advocacy director for ACT for NIH. In addition to reviewing the latest on the FY26 appropriations process, we’ve asked Garrett to discuss the forward funding challenge and related advocacy efforts. There will also be plenty of time to catch up on other R&D-relevant topics like the aforementioned AI Executive Order. If you are affiliated with a Research!America member organization, email Jacqueline Lagoy for the Zoom registration link.
Public Engagement: In our latest commissioned survey, 85% of Americans say scientists should consider it a part of their job to keep the public informed about their research and its impact on society. At Research!America, we help researchers do just that, in several ways including through our Civic Engagement Microgrant Program and Public Engagement Content Award. The deadline to apply for both programs has been extended to Monday, Dec. 1. Apply today!
Happy Thanksgiving: I’m writing to you a day early in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. My Research!America colleagues and I are thankful for advocates who take the time to speak out for science, from discovery to innovation, and from prevention to lifesaving treatments. We deeply appreciate your efforts. We also want to extend our gratitude to the federal workforce – people in communities across the United States who have chosen to work for you, me, and our nation. Thank you to every member of the federal workforce for who you are and what you do on behalf of us all.