Science and Health Policy

I didn’t know what I expected on Thursday when I traveled to Bridgewater, NJ to visit GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) Medical Affairs office. This was my first opportunity to get a day-in-the-life industry perspective during my time in graduate school. If you read any of our previous blog posts or even just the description of the iJOBS program, you will understand that its sole purpose is to expose graduate students and post-docs to non-academic career options.

Hey All!

[caption id="attachment_1693" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Asm. Zwicker speaking to the assembly session about NJ STEM Week.[/caption] A few weeks ago, I had the privilege to shadow Assemblyman (Asm.) Andrew Zwicker of the 16^th legislative district of New Jersey. Asm. Zwicker isn’t your average politician. He received his M.A. and Ph.D.

Lots of things have changed since the last time I posted. I am currently in Washington DC at the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) for the Christine Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy fellowship. I will have a follow-up post on this, but for now, this post will focus on my journey into science policy by going over a few tidbits on my past year doing science policy informational interviews.

By Fatu Badiane Markey and Urmimala Basu I first met Dr. Terri Goss Kinzy at an American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB) advocacy event on Capitol Hill. Having had previous experience speaking to legislators about biomedical research, her insight was highly relevant to this event as well as my personal interests.  That day, I unfortunately did not have much time to connect with her about her important role as the Vice President of Research for Rutgers University.

 By: Eileen Oni This past September, members of the Rutgers community gathered at the Eagleton Institute Science and Politics workshop to hear words of wisdom and personal stories during a question and answer session with the Honorable Christine Todd Whitman, former New Jersey Governor. This session was moderated by the Associate Director of the Eagleton Institute of Politics, John Weingart.

Today we’re talking politics.  I know what you’re thinking: a touchy subject at best, and a flaming meteorite about to destroy the Earth at worst.  But on Tuesday, November 8^th, those eligible will be called to perform their civic responsibility in the United States and cast their vote to elect the future leaders of this country.  I believe that you and I, as highly educated individuals of science, have a duty to vote for those who will lead our country with the pursuit of knowledge as well as educate those around us so that they may make the wisest d

Towards the end of April, earlier this year, I had the opportunity to take part in a science advocacy day on Capitol Hill organized by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (ASBMB). I stumbled across this opportunity as part of an iJOBS event email and decided to apply simply on a whim. If the outcome was in my favor, it would be a great experience to add to my tool belt in my exploration of the policy career field. Fortunately for me, I was accepted!

For the past few years, I have been exploring my interests in science policy. I first participated in iJOBS Phase I programs and specifically engaged in policy-driven workshops hosted by iJOBS and the Eagleton Institute. During these workshops, I was introduced not only to current issues that drive health policy, but also to the transition of a policy from its initiation to its implementation at the federal level. The experience that I gained from the Phase I programs influenced my decision to pursue a career within science policy.

  My name is Eileen Oni, and I’m a sixth year PhD candidate in the Cell and Developmental Biology program at Rutgers University. I am a Central Jersey native (Yes, it does exist!), residing in South Brunswick Township. I began my academic journey under the simple notion of better understanding the development of living organisms, which drove me to pursue a higher degree in the sciences; more specifically within cell biology research.