Wrighton addresses congressional panel

Science Coalition presents 'Great Advances' in research

Chancellor Mark S. Wrighton was one of three university chief executives to address the U.S. House of Representatives Science Committee Thursday, Sept. 24. Wrighton spoke at a breakfast meeting in the Rayburn House Office Building in the nation's capital.

Wrighton joined George Rupp, Ph.D., president of Columbia University, and Michael Aiken, Ph.D., chancellor of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, on the occasion of the release of the Science Coalition's Great Advances report, a sampling of thousands of scientific advances achieved during the 105th Congress. More than a dozen members of Congress attended, as did many administrators of U.S. universities.

The Science Coalition is an alliance of more than 400 organizations, institutions and individuals including public and private universities, scientific societies, Nobel laureates, businesses, voluntary health organizations, medical groups and health care providers dedicated to sustaining the federal government's historical commitment to U.S. leadership in basic research. Washington University is a coalition member.

The Science Coalition report highlights advances across a myriad of scientific fields and disciplines. The report features advances from more than 50 universities, including Washington University.

Wrighton emphasized the need for federal funding for scientific research in the future and focused on new challenges and economic opportunities for which scientific discovery plays a pivotal role.

"We in the university community are deeply grateful for the federal support that has been extended to us for advanced education and research," Wrighton remarked. "To use a scientific analogy, the Congress provides, like thermodynamics, the set of laws defining what is possible. The universities are the catalytic sites where the possibilities are realized. The faculty, students and staff are the people who make it happen. The people at universities are in a partnership with the society at large, and the research and advanced education are for the benefit of society."

During his remarks, Wrighton noted the remarkable advances that have been made in addressing important problems and creating new opportunities, including advancing information science and technology to assure national security; improving human health; and enhancing the environment while promoting economic well-being. He said that the federal role in support of research universities is critical to fueling advances in science and technology, not only because important discoveries stem from university programs but also because highly educated people leave universities with "know-how and show-how" that is vital to the companies they join.

The Science Coalition believes that public and private research universities play a crucial role in the nation's innovation system. They conduct most of the basic research in America today, whether it is funded through federal or private sources. In the process, they educate the next generation of scientists and engineers, usually by involving them in that research.

The federal government's role in supporting basic research has proven to be among the most productive of all public investments, improving the quality of living while generating impressive returns through economic growth and job creation.

The Washington University breakthroughs over the past year that are mentioned in the report are:

• the work of the Genome Sequencing Center in the School of Medicine, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and led by Robert H. Waterston, M.D., Ph.D., the James S. McDonnell Professor and head of genetics;

• the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded work of Karen L. Wooley, Ph.D., assistant professor of chemistry in Arts and Sciences, who has made improvements to synthetic polymer particles resembling Polish pastries that could someday be used in drug and gene therapies;

• two major inventions to accelerate the Internet rapidly, made and patented by George Varghese, Ph.D., associate professor of computer science, and Jonathan S. Turner, Ph.D., the Henry Edwin Sever Professor of Engineering, in projects funded by the NSF;

• the NIH-funded discovery by Marc R. Hammerman, M.D., the Chromalloy Professor of Renal Diseases in Medicine and director of the Renal Division in the medical school, of a new way to grow kidneys, which could lessen the need for human donor organs; and

• the first look at the birth of a human memory with the use of sophisticated neuroimaging instrumentation by Randy L. Bucker, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychology in Arts and Sciences, and medical school collaborators, funded by the National Institute on Aging.