Episode 21

Funding Science: It's Good Policy

00:00:00
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01:10:40

October 22nd, 2021

1 hr 10 mins 40 secs

Season 3

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About this Episode

Science isn't political. But that doesn’t mean that scientists don’t have influence in politics. Join us for our conversation with Dr. Naomi Charalambakis, Associate Director of Science Policy at the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, to learn about how animal research informs human health and why it’s important for scientists to advocate for increased federal funding for science. Plus, is greener air travel on the horizon? And can photosynthesis be harnessed to restore nerve function? - these topics are covered in our news segment.

Our Guest:
Naomi Charalambakis, PhD, is a Senior Science Policy Analyst for the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB), a coalition of 29 scientific societies collectively representing over 130,000 individual biological and biomedical researchers. In this role, she leads efforts of FASEB’s Animals in Research and Education working group, developing policy statements, tracking congressional legislation and agency directives related to animal use in federal research, and creating resources for the lab animal community. This includes preparing comments to federal Requests for Information. Additionally, Dr. Charalambakis serves as the staff liaison for the FASEB Shared Research Resources Task Force, coordinating with volunteers across the country to guide policy discussions pertaining to core facilities. Dr. Charalambakis launched her policy career at FASEB in November 2018, after graduating with her doctorate in Anatomical Sciences and Neurobiology from the University of Louisville School of Medicine where she utilized mouse transgenics to evaluate the role of retinal input on inhibitory interneurons in the visual thalamus. As a PhD Candidate, Dr. Charalambakis spent the summer of 2015 as a science policy intern at Research!America, and co-founded and served as Director of the first science policy University of Louisville student organization.

Your Hosts:
Steffie Diem
Jason Organ
James Reed

Credits
Editing-James Reed
Mastering- Chris Goulet

Music:
Intro and Outro- Wolf Moon by Unicorn Heads | https://unicornheads.com/ | Standard YouTube License
Additional Sounds- Inside a Computer Chip by Doug Maxwell | https://www.mediarightproductions.com/ | Standard YouTube License

The Science Night Podcast is a member of the Riverpower Podcast Mill family