The Dark Ages for American Science Are Over!
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The election of Barack Obama last night signals the beginning of the end of the dark ages that have plagued American science for the past 8 years. I hope that one of the first things that Mr. Obama does after he is sworn in as President is to lift the ban on embryonic stem cell research in this country. This unprecedented ban has done more to harm to American science than most lay people realize. Because of it, we are light years behind other countries which have been able to conducted unfettered research in this area.
The second thing that President Obama must do is to restore the funding levels to the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation so that American scientists will have sufficient funds to innovate once again. For the past 5 years or so, many of my friends in academia were more focused on trying to keep their jobs than concentrating on divining cutting-edge research.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Mr. Obama must overall the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) so that the American public can once again believe that prescription drugs that are marketed and sold in the US are safe and efficacious.
On a personal note, the last 8 years have felt like an eternity to me—both a scientist and a citizen. Whether or not Barack Obama lives up to his campaign promises, our next President is a man of intellect, vision and a sense of social justice. That said, this is the first time in many years, that I can truly say that I am proud to be an American!!!
The change is coming…!!!!!!!!!!!!
Until next time…
Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!!!!!
Cliff, I agree with your sentiments, but have two comments.
First, the NIH has plenty of money. It's just being spent in a bone-headed way. Wasting it on bioterror research, for example. Obama needs to pull that plug IMMEDIATELY and return the money to investigator initiated research.
Second, the Republican congress has changed NIH over the years from an investigator initiated organization to one that requires work on specific areas. The 'Road Map'. Get rid of all that, and let scientists wander. That's how things are discovered.