Biden Issues Scientific Integrity Order
President Joseph Biden issued an executive order on Wednesday charging the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) with coordinating and overseeing scientific integrity policies across the federal government. The order directs a review to ensure that federal scientific integrity policies prevent improper political interference and prohibit the suppression or distortion of scientific findings. The order also directs federal agencies to expand open access to federal data, in accordance with the Evidence-Based Policymaking Act.
BUZZ BITS…
- Sens. Maggie Hassan (D-NH), Robert Casey (D-PA), and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) requested the Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigate how higher education institutions are supporting students with disabilities during the COVID pandemic. The Senators asked GAO to identify the challenges disabled students face and how colleges are helping them succeed.
- Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME) will chair the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior and Environment, which oversees the budgets for the National Endowments for the Arts and the Humanities. Pingree is a consistent champion of the arts who is expected to advocate for robust budgets for the cultural agencies.
- While receiving a COVID-19 vaccination at the National Institutes of Health campus on Wednesday, Vice President Kamala Harris recalled her mother’s service on an NIH study section. Harris thanked scientists for the gift they give the public: “To see what can be, unburdened by what has been.”
EVENTS NEWS YOU CAN USE
The Office of Research will host its first Research on Tap of the semester on February 4th at 4:00 pm. Hosted by Professors Evan Johnson (MED) and Daniel Segrè (CAS), “Cancer and the Microbiome” will highlight the broad range of microbiome research in cancer being conducted by BU faculty. Sign up and meet future research collaborators from throughout the university.RSVP today