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January 1–March 31, 2023

Every day FASEB offers real value to its members by providing programs and services of benefit to you. Here are just a few recent initiatives that demonstrate our dedication to you and your society members. Spread the word about these member benefits your society receives—share this information with your leadership and staff.

Focusing on Priorities to Enhance Services to Your Society

The FASEB Board of Directors, which is made up of representatives from all FASEB Full Member societies, continued to make direct impacts on our short- and long-term planning. At its meeting in March, the Board took action on several issues affecting your society and members, including identifying opportunities for FASEB across the open science landscape, soliciting feedback on a conceptual design from the Future Focus Task Force, and approving the charter and program funding for the Howard Garrison Advocacy Program. Read the meeting summary. 

Advocating for Sustainable Federal Funding for Your Members’ Research

For the first time since 2019, representatives from Full Member societies returned to Capitol Hill in person for FASEB Capitol Hill Day. Representing researchers in nearly all FASEB member societies, the scientists/advocates urged their lawmakers to provide sustainable and predictable federal funding for scientific research (see our federal funding recommendations for FY 2024).

Recognizing that many of your members conduct research funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), included among the resources the scientists/advocates shared with lawmakers was a new factsheet emphasizing key provisions of the CHIPS and Science Act. 

Supporting Authors in Their Submission and Peer Review Process

To enhance rigor and reproducibility of your researchers’ science submitted to our journals, we added an automated tool, called SciScore, into the journals’ submission system. Sciscore provides key recommendations and practical steps your researchers can take to enhance their reported science. It is an automated text-mining tool that evaluates the methods section of scientific articles and checks compliance against recommendations, requirements, and best practices for rigor and reproducibility. The tool generates for researchers both an overall score and a detailed report that provides guidance on potential improvements. Read more

Advancing Data Sharing and Reuse Practices

Sharing and reusing scientific data openly has tremendous potential to catalyze new scientific discoveries. We continued to advance a culture of data sharing and reuse for your members through the FASEB DataWorks! initiative:

  • DataWorks! Salons—These interactive and engaging online conversation spaces enabled your members to exchange ideas and design effective practices for data sharing and reuse within their own research teams. Discussions focused on an overview of data management and sharing best practices in biological and biomedical research and how your members can use repositories to make their data discoverable. View snippets from recent salons
  • DataWorks! Prize—In February we announced winners of the 2022 Dataworks! Prize. Designed to incentivize innovative practices and increase community engagement around data sharing and reuse, we teamed with National Institutes of Health to sponsor the prize and some of your members were among the finalists. Encourage your members to take part in this year’s prize, in which research teams will share a prize purse of up to $500,000. A call for submissions will open in May.
  • DataWorks! Help Desk—This newest component of DataWorks! launched in January. Help Desk is designed to be a hub for resources and solutions to aid your members—striving to ease their ability to navigate data management and sharing in their research efforts. View this easy-to-use service   

Are your members concerned about sharing and reusing their scientific data? Schedule an informational session to learn more about how DataWorks! can help.    

Supporting a Diverse, Inclusive, and Accessible Culture

Our Diversity, Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion (DEAI) Program is a key step forward in the pursuit of our DEAI goals, which the FASEB Board approved in 2020. Several opportunities were available to your members this quarter:

  • Family caregiving can oftentimes hinder your members’ professional development. To address their challenges, we opened another application cycle for CARES Awards. CARES Awards provide financial support to alleviate financial burdens associated with caregiving, enabling your members to continue their scientific training, professional development, and career progression. Each selected awardee will receive $5,000 based on their need. Individual members at all Full Member societies are eligible for the award. Encourage your members to apply here by April 28.
  • Senior- and junior-level scientists/members from American Physiological Society, Society for Developmental Biology, American Society for Bone and Mineral Research, American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and American Association for Anatomy were selected as the first cohort to take part in LEAD (Leadership Engagement and Appreciation of Differences), our reverse mentoring program. LEAD pairs senior-level professionals with junior-level mentors so they can gain different perspectives of individual, group, and broader cultural views within the workplace and scientific research communities. Encourage your members to apply for the next LEAD cohort, starting May 15. Read more
  • Following up from the FASEB Board’s approval in December of updates to the DEAI Committee Charter and the addition of a new DEAI vice president and vice president-elect to the Board, individuals at all Full Member societies were invited to submit nominations for these two new officer positions. Beginning July 1, the selected officers will serve as ambassadors for our DEAI initiatives and lead collaborations with FASEB member societies. Read more

Empowering Early-career Scientists on the Board

Early-career scientists make up a significant portion of the biological and biomedical sciences community. To better represent the unique insights and opinions of this critical group and to foster dialogue between current and future generations of researchers, your members were encouraged to apply for Early-career Representatives to serve in voting positions on our Board of Directors and Science Policy Committee. Selected nominees will be announced in July. Read more

 

Supporting Your Members’ Humane and Ethical Use of Animals in Research

Increasing support for your members’ humane and ethical use of animals in research remains one of our key priorities. To address the evolving threat of animal rights activism on the biomedical research enterprise, we co-published a report with Americans for Medical Progress, the National Association for Biomedical Research, and the Foundation for Biomedical Research, “Animal Research Activism.” An accompanying webinar complemented the report’s release. This new report shares methods your members can use to mitigate animal rights groups’ targeted actions and emphasizes the importance of taking a comprehensive approach to improving public education and communication about animal research. Read the report

More Benefits to Share

  • Individuals in Full Member societies are eligible to serve on the FASEB Science Policy Committee, which helps guide FASEB’s work to maintain high standards of integrity and research practice.
  • Full and Associate Member societies can position themselves as an authority in biological and biomedical science with our advocacy toolkit, eAction alerts, and information in the Washington Update newsletter.

See all member benefits