News

Antisemitism Investigations; Women’s Health Research; Military Health

BU IN DC

Jennifer Gómez of the School of Social Work and Suzanne Kennedy of the Office of the Provost attended a meeting of the National Academies Action Collaborative on Preventing Sexual Harassment in Higher Education on May 22nd and 23rd.

Dean Mariette diChristina of the College of Communication moderated a virtual panel entitled "Trust in Science: Understanding the Trends and Implications for Science Communication" at the National Academies on May 30th.

HOUSE CONTINUES FOCUS ON COLLEGE ANTISEMITISM

On Monday, six committee chairs in the U.S. House of Representatives wrote to ten universities to emphasize that the committees are investigating the schools' use of federal funds and their learning environments in the wake of allegations of "an environment hostile to Jewish students." The committees' letter was sent to the leaders of Barnard College, Columbia University, Cornell University, Harvard University, MIT, Northwestern University, Rutgers University, University of California - Berkeley, University of California - Los Angeles (UCLA), and the University of Pennsylvania. House committees have also recently taken the following actions:

• During a May 23rd hearing, members of the House Education and the Workforce Committee questioned the leaders of Northwestern, Rutgers, and UCLA about their responses to pro-Palestinian campus demonstrations.
• The Committee announced it will conduct transcribed interviews with the leaders of Yale University and the University of Michigan in June and August, respectively.
• Republican leaders of the House Energy and Commerce and Education Committees wrote to the Secretary of Health and Human Services to inquire whether the National Institutes of Health is "[holding] grantees accountable for antisemitism arising on their campuses." The letter notes that grantees who do not comply with federal civil rights laws can lose federal funding.

BUZZ BITS...

• The National Institutes of Health (NIH) released a five-year NIH-Wide Strategic Plan for Research on the Health of Women. The plan identifies five goals, including furthering research into the multiple factors influencing women's health, improving data science and management related to women's health, and advancing women scientists' career development. The Biden Administration issued an executive order in March to foster women's health research across government agencies.
• Dr. Darío Gil, Senior Vice President and Director of IBM Research, is the new chair of the National Science Board (NSB). The NSB guides the activities of the National Science Foundation; Gil will be the Board's first industry leader in more than three decades.
• The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently released a five-year DHS Innovation, Research, and Development (IRD) Strategic Plan. The plan outlines eight cross-cutting Strategic Priority Research Areas (SPRAs), including advanced sensing, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, climate change, communications, cybersecurity, data methods and tools, and digital identity and trust.

EVENT NEWS YOU CAN USE

The 2024 Military Health System Research Symposium (MHSRS) is tentatively scheduled for August 26th to 29th at the Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center in Kissimmee, Florida. The MHSRS is the Department of Defense’s (DOD) premier medical research meeting; it offers an opportunity for researchers to engage with program managers and DOD officials, who are often hard to reach, on military biomedical and health-related research topics. Registration for the event is expected to open in early July.

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