Congressman Fattah Visits BU Neuroscientists
BU in DC
President Robert A. Brown and Beverly Brown attended the spring membership meeting of the Association of American Universities between April 27 and 29.
Azer Bestravos of the Hariri Institute for Computing and Computational Science & Engineering gave a presentation to the group on massive open online courses (MOOCs).
Jon Simon of the Center for Global Health & Development met with global health officials at the U.S. Agency for International Development on May 1.
Cornelius Hurley of the Center for Finance, Law, & Policy discussed banking policy with Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) and Representative Michael Capuano (D-MA) on April 29 and 30.
Congressman Fattah Visits BU Neuroscientists
Representative Chaka Fattah (D-PA) visited the Charles River campus on April 24 to learn about BU’s neuroscience research. Fattah is the foremost advocate for neuroscience in Congress and was instrumental in launching the federal Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) initiative. During his visit, the Congressman met with President Robert A. Brown and Vice President and Associate Provost for Research Gloria Waters, toured the Autism Center of Excellence, and discussed neuroscience with Professors Michael Hasselmo, Helen Tager-Flusberg, Ruha Benajamin, and Xue Han.
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Committee Addresses Support for Innovation
The Senate Appropriations Committee held a hearing to discuss the value of federal support for scientific research on April 29. In an unusual joint appearance, the leaders of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Energy, and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency testified at a hearing the Committee called its “first-ever crosscutting look at innovation.” Each leader described the remarkable scientific advances made possible through government investment and warned against the austere federal funding environment eroding U.S. leadership in research. Fifteen Senators attended the hearing, demonstrating a bipartisan interest in supporting science.
Watch the hearing
Policymakers Focus on Campus Sexual Assault
Sexual assault on college campuses received increased attention this week as the White House released the first report of its Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault, which was created in January. The report recommends that colleges conduct climate surveys to assess the extent of sexual violence on campus and outlines proper adjudication procedures. Concurrently, Senator Claire McCaskill (D-MO) sent surveys to several hundred universities regarding their policies on sexual assault, possibly as a precursor to legislative action. Further action from both the White House Task Force and Congress is expected.