Science Advocacy

Why I advocate?

All science is funded by taxpayer money. It is for this reason that scientists have a moral obligation to inform people of their findings. In addition, funding for biomedical science has decreased in the last few years. Scientists need not just funding, but consistent funding for which we must advocate effectively to elected representatives.

Cell Interview

I was interviewed for an article by Susan Matheson in the April 6, 2017 issue of Cell about advocating for science on Capitol Hill.

“It’s very empowering,” said Sloka Iyengar, an ambassador who visited Capitol Hill in 2015. She had just completed her postdoctoral work studying epilepsy and the causes of seizures at the Nathan Kline Institute in New York when she met with six different senators and representatives from New York and New Jersey. “That was my first time ever doing anything like this,” said Iyengar. The lawmakers were “quite interested” and were “very, very receptive.” Visiting lawmakers, said Iyengar, “allows you to see the impact of what you’re doing in the lab.”

Here is a link to the full article.

Society for Neuroscience

I serve as the co-chair of the Advocacy division of the Greater NYC Chapter of the Society for Neuroscience.
March 2015 Early Career Science Policy Fellow - I was awarded the Early Career Science Fellowship by the Society for Neuroscience. This was a year-long fellowship as part of which I went to Capitol Hill to advocate to New York and New Jersey senators and Congressmen about science funding.
I wrote an article for Neuronline about my experiences on Capitol Hill.
In September 2015, I co-organized an advocacy event at the Rockefeller University entitled ‘Science funding: what can we do about it?”

Read about the program and the invited panelists here.
In January 2016, I spoke at a webinar where I summarized my advocacy efforts over the 2015-2016.
In February 2016, I talked to undergraduates at NYU about Science and human rights.
March 2016 – I visited Capitol Hill again and talked about neuroscience funding to elected representatives from New York and Texas.
In April 2016, I organized Train to Advocate at NYU, which used improv to help grad students and postdocs learn how to become better science communicators and to advocate effectively for science.
I am mentoring two Advocacy fellows to guide them on how to effectively advocate for increased and sustained budget for science in the state and federal levels.

Do you have questions about the advocacy division of the NY SfN chapter? Please contact us at advocacy.nyc.sfn@gmail.com.

American Brain Coalition

I compiled the newsletter for the American Brain Coalition (ABC), a non-profit organization comprised of some of the United States’ leading professional neurological, psychological, and psychiatric associations and patient organizations, from March 2015 to December 2016.

Here are the newsletters:

Alliance for Patient Access

I co-authored an article about improving cancer patients’ access to precision medicine for the Alliance for Patient Access.