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Suggested Citation:"STATEMENT BY DOMINICK P. P URPURA, M.D.." National Research Council. 1994. Meeting the Nation's Needs for Biomedical and Behavioral Scientists: Summary of the 1993 Public Hearings. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4958.
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Page 80
Suggested Citation:"STATEMENT BY DOMINICK P. P URPURA, M.D.." National Research Council. 1994. Meeting the Nation's Needs for Biomedical and Behavioral Scientists: Summary of the 1993 Public Hearings. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4958.
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Page 81

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APPENDIX D 80 In addition, early completion might be rewarded. At the present time there is no incentive to complete one’s course of study early. I was able to complete my dissertation and end my NRSA grant one year early. I worked very hard to match the end of my second year of funding (December 30th, 1992) with the end of winter term at the University (December 15th). However, to meet the deadlines at The University of Michigan for December graduation, I needed to defend my dissertation late in October using November to make changes and meet all the graduate school requirements for a December 15th graduation. I am now told that I need to pay back my December and part of my November stipend. This seems counter-productive to the aims of the NRSA. Students may continue to receive funding year to year with minimal annual review. Yet, when students finish on time or early, there may be a fine rather than a reward. I would recommend an annual evaluation that seeks clearer evidence of progress that is congruent with the stated plan. Another funding concern is the lack of health insurance for students. This is obviously a hot issue right now in our country, and hopefully will be resolved nationally. However, it is an issue now for NRSA awardees, especially single parent women who cannot qualify for health benefits through their employer because they can only work 25 percent time or less. And finally, a comment on the institutional versus the individual award. The individual NRSA award is often thought to be more prestigious, yet, it does not have tuition included as does the institutional award. It would seem reasonable to equalize the awards and cover tuition for both. I close by thanking you for the opportunity to have been an NRSA awardee and to have shared my insights today. The University of Michigan provided a very stimulating research environment for me as a student-and continues to do so presently as I now, as an assistant professor, continue my research. STATEMENT BY DOMINICK P. P URPURA, M.D. I am Dominick Purpura, Dean of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Past-President of the Society for Neuroscience. On behalf of the Society for Neuroscience’s 22,000 members I am pleased to have this opportunity to address issues immediately relevant to the recruitment, training, and employment of young investigators in the brain and behavioral sciences. I view these issues from several perspectives; as a neuroscientist whose research career began 40 years ago with a special fellowship from the National Institutes of Health, as an investigator, mentor and director of training programs, and now as Chief Executive Officer of a research intensive medical college that has made a strong commitment to basic biomedical and behavioral sciences research and research training since its founding. I shall limit my remarks to the brain sciences as a neuroscientist, Past-President of the Society for Neuroscience, and current President of the International Brain Research Organization. I am a member of the National Academy of Sciences and its Institute of Medicine. Neuroscience is truly the most rapidly growing biological growth industry in the life sciences. Young people fascinated by the prospects of understanding how we think, how we behave and who we are, look to careers in neuroscience to make fundamental contributions to the human condition in health and disease. They are cognizant of the extraordinary opportunities available as a consequence of the application of molecular and cell biology principles, molecular genetics, computational sciences, and the more traditional disciplines of morphophysiology and experimental psychology to studies of brain structure and function. But they are also aware that these opportunities are threatened by real and perceived difficulties affecting even the most established neuroscientists who despair of obtaining adequate federal and private funding for their research projects. The first twelve words of Charles Dickens’ classic, A Tale of Two Cities are: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times....” These words say it all. Never in the history of humankind have we been so close to understanding how the brain works to produce mind. The best and brightest of our young scientists know that unraveling the mechanism of brain function and the processes by which these go awry, can enrich their intellectual lives and provide a life of meaningful inquiry and professional satisfaction. It is indeed “the best of times” for neuroscience. But the climate of impending contraction and zero-growth in NIH-NSF budgets which pervades all academic institutions today portends “the worst of times.” Like the residual low-level background radiation of the Big Bang that permeates the Universe, the question one hears

APPENDIX D 81 throughout academia is “How will I support my research career?” I submit, in response to the Committee’s first question, that the most significant challenge we face today for maintaining our adequate supply of qualified (neuro)scientists to sustain and advance health research is to provide a rational mechanism for ensuring stable support for young scientists as they begin and progress through their academic careers. To achieve this will require reaffirmation of the importance of universitygovernmental covenants concerning sponsored research and a mechanism for stabilizing the support of productive investigators. Facilitating research opportunities by enhanced availability of grant awards will permit highly motivated young men and women to realize their career goals in the biomedical and behavioral sciences. Neuroscience is fortunate in the magic of its appeal to the inquiring young mind. We have been blessed with literally thousands of young graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who are associate members of the Society for Neuroscience. And we are particularly proud of our minority recruitment program, the number of women who are neuroscientists (approximately 30 percent), and the fact that two women have been President of the Society in the past decade. The Commission has posed the question as to what improvements might be made in the NRSA program to assume a continuing supply of skilled investigators. Acquiring the necessary skills to become a competitive scientist in today’s highly technical biomedical research community requires in-depth experience with a wide range of techniques under the tutelage of experienced mentors in collegial and collaborative settings. Pre- and postdoctoral trainees are avid consumers of faculty time and institutional resources. In better times, sponsors of trainees utilized funds in their research awards to provide supplies and equipment for their graduate students and fellows. Institutions have provided stipend supplements, and, in many instances, subsidized housing. As the costs per grant escalate in the face of reduced award levels for the vanishingly few successful applications that attain threshold for funding, it can be anticipated that training will be seriously compromised. The NRSA program could be significantly improved by allocating sufficient funds to cover the true costs of laboratory and living expenses incurred during training. The stipend level for pre- and postdoctoral fellows should be examined to ensure subsistence capability. Current levels of NRSA fellowships are not realistic in today’s economic environment, particularly in the Northeast. Training of neuroscientists requires more attention to the nature of the field in inquiry than is evident for training in biochemistry, molecular biology or genetics. This is because neuroscience is not a discipline as such, but a way of thinking about how to approach problems of brain mechanisms. Competent neuroscientists utilize the canon of knowledge and techniques in neuroanatomy, physiology, neurochemistry and other disciplines including molecular genetics. While maintaining a sharp focus on acquiring one or two disciplinary skills, they must also keep their peripheral vision on the wide range of disciplines that impact on brain research. Indeed the successful neuroscientist has operational knowledge about the structure and function of neuronal systems from “molecule to behavior. ” It follows that institutional programs supporting NRSA fellows must be of the highest quality to provide the critical environment for high achievement. The problem of enhancing opportunities for women and minorities in NRSA programs will be satisfactorily addressed when there is an appropriate increase in the number of women and minority persons in positions of mentorship in academic and industrial settings. Equally important is that there be women and minority support groups that are visible and integral components of the sociological environment of institutions providing training. Child care support, resetting the tenure clock, maternity leave, and other related issues can be instrumental in facilitating the needs of young women in academic science careers. But none of these efforts will succeed in the absence of evidence that trainees will not be penalized with loss of mentor-bonding should they decide to substitute the joys of maternal-infant bonding for a brief period in their training program. The number of minorities in science will be increased when K-12 education is improved in urban settings so as to encourage minorities to pursue academic programs and when undergraduate education ensures science literacy and instills a thirst to create as well as absorb knowledge. Increasing the number of minorities in high school and college programs of summer research in our training institutions will expand the pool of qualified candidates and help influence career decisions relevant to biomedical research. The Association of Medical Schools of New York has had such a program in place for many years with a creditable record of achievement. Training program

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