The reason for FundScience
12.21.08 by Sharmila Pejawar-Gaddy
As a member of The American Association of Immunologists (AAI), I receive the monthly AAI newsletter that keeps me up-to-date on current happenings in the world of Immunology (and sometimes science in general). This month’s newsletter also included a letter to members from the Executive Director of AAI, where she was asking members to “continue their support to AAI by renewing their membership, which is so important specifically in this current economic climate, where a strong AAI voice in Washington is essential to Immunologists”. The letter continued to tell us, in actual numbers, what a hard hit science has taken in these last 8 years. According to this newsletter, the NIH has had a 14% loss in purchasing power since 2003. 14% in 5 years, think about it! Stepping out of my scientist-skin, I ask a serious, unbiased question: what type of a society takes money away from medical advancement? As a person who is witnessing this first-hand, I cannot tell you how many cases I have heard off in which brilliant scientists have lost their funding and have either had to leave research all together or move to another country like Singapore, which has realized that advancement in science and healthcare is the touchstone of any successful civilization. If history has taught us a few things it is that many ancient civilizations were wiped off the face of the earth due to their inability to deal with disease, famine and draught, all which can have solutions in science.
This is where non-profit organizations like FundScience come into play. The unique thing about FundScience is that the general public is put in direct access with the scientific method. This begins to disslove the misunderstandings about science, scientific techniques and the timeline from the advent of a thought/idea to the fruition of that idea.
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