March 2005

National Academies Advisory: March 18 public briefing on biomedical investigators

Concerns have been raised for decades about early-career biomedical scientists spending longer periods of time as postdoctoral appointees, unable to set their own research directions or establish their independence. In 2002, for example, the median age at which researchers received their first independent grant from the National Institutes of Health was 42. BRIDGES TO INDEPENDENCE: FOSTERING THE INDEPENDENCE OF NEW INVESTIGATORS IN BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH, a new report from the National Academies' National Research Council, explains how NIH and other stakeholders must transform the status quo to help ensure the vitality of the U.S. biomedical research enterprise. The report will be released at a one-hour public briefing.

DETAILS:
Friday, March 18, at 10 a.m. EST in the Lecture Room of the National Academies building, 2100 C St., N.W., Washington, D.C. Those who cannot attend are invited to listen to a live audio webcast and submit questions using an e-mail form at http://national-academies.org.

GUEST SPEAKERS:

BRUCE ALBERTS, president, U.S. National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C.

ELIAS A. ZERHOUNI, director, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md.

PARTICIPATING FROM THE COMMITTEE THAT WROTE THE REPORT:

THOMAS R. CECH (chair), president, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, Md., and distinguished professor of chemistry and biochemistry, University of Colorado, Boulder

REPORTERS: OBTAIN COPIES OR REGISTER TO ATTEND by contacting the Office of News and Public Information at tel. 202-334-2138 or e-mail [email protected]. Advance copies of the report will be available to reporters only beginning at noon EST on Thursday, March 17. THE REPORT IS EMBARGOED AND NOT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE BEFORE 10 A.M. EST ON MARCH 18.