A Message from Our Executive Director

NWABR’s members — institutions and individual supporters — constitute a selected community of leaders across the Northwest who embrace our mission of promoting the understanding of biomedical research and its ethical conduct. Together, we set a high standard for membership, ever cognizant of our shared responsibility and accountability for creating and supporting a culture across this region that fosters trusted research partnerships. 

No matter what political party we follow, the increasing polarization of our country is dysfunctional and disheartening. Headlines and sound bites drawn from information taken out of context dominate the airwaves. We in the life sciences understand the damage these messages cause and the difficulty of building public confidence during these unsettling times. 

It is in this environment that you and the thousands of members of research teams across our Northwest Association for Biomedical Research institutions get up every morning and dedicate your life work to medical progress. NWABR’s focus on strengthening public trust in research has never been more critical.

Visiting personally with the senior leadership of each of our member facilities is my priority. Over thirty of those visits took place in 2010-2011, with more on the horizon. Our Program Committee, which includes leading bioethicists and researchers, meets quarterly to discuss how best to address the issues that emerge from these conversations and present them to the Board. The NWABR Board and I are committed to shaping our member services’ priorities with intention and care. 

Below are two examples of key issues that emerged directly from my onsite visits:

BIOREPOSITORIES

This emerging issue was initially identified in my site visits with Elaine Jones at the Allen Institute for Brain Science and John Slattery at UW Medicine. Biorepositories are long-term storage facilities to collect, store, and distribute biospecimens like DNA samples to support future scientific investigation. 

After months of intense planning with the Institute of Translational Health Sciences (ITHS) and the University of Washington School of Medicine, teams from 32 research institutions across the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia convened in Seattle on February 5, 2010. Panel discussions focused on the unprecedented opportunities for launching large-scale collaborative research in our region amid continuing challenges to oversight and regulation. The NIH Director of the Office of Human Research Protections was a participant in these sessions; he has encouraged us to continue these deliberations and share with him any policy proposals that emerge. 

While these conversations have continued within our life sciences community, NWABR has been a leader in providing opportunities for our researchers to communicate with local citizens about why these issues are so critical to understand. We formed a new strategic partnership with Seattle City Club in 2010, and on October 25, 2010, we copresented “Do You Know Where Your DNA Is?” The program proved to be a superb model for communities across our region to engage with scientists and bioethicists about the promises and risks of scaling up the use of biorepositories. We invite you to read NWABR’s event blog about the “DNA” forum. In the coming months, look for many more ways in which NWABR will be utilizing new tools and approaches for listening to and engaging with public audiences.

ANIMAL RESEARCH: INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS

How we communicate and frame our stories about research remains central to public understanding and support. When I met in spring 2010 with SNBL USA’s new leadership team, we mapped out a multi-fold approach to training their 370 member staff about how to talk about animal research. Included in these strategies was a day long training that reached every SNBL employee, led by Cindy Pekow, the Chief Veterinary Medical Officer for the Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System and past President of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science. Cindy represents the diversity of experience and breadth of background in NWABR’s resources that are available to all of our members.

At the national level, NWABR has partnered with the Foundation for Biomedical Research in tailoring their recently launched ResearchSaves campaign to the Northwest. During the first week of October 2010 the Executive Vice President at FBR, Paul McKellips traveled to our region and presented the campaign’s latest findings to over 500 researchers and staff at 13 NWABR member institutions in Montana, Idaho, Eastern and Western Washington. The next phase of this campaign has included a new billboard component for the West Coast in 2011.

NWABR is prepared.

• We respond immediately to crisis situations that any member brings to our attention – the protection and security of our researchers, including communications support, are of the utmost importance to every one of us.
• We provide “safe places” that allow those charged with weighing difficult decisions about research and ethics to convene with peers facing similar challenges. Our regional gatherings of IACUC, IRB, and IBC members, including private sessions for Institutional Officials, are examples in point.
• We address sensitive and emerging issues for which there is not yet a roadmap. As science and technology continue to move faster than public perception and policy, NWABR is positioned to bring together the right mix of stakeholders to explore the best options to consider. Biorepository development and governance stands as a central priority in this category.

Education: We are creating part of the pipeline.

The severe budget cuts at the national and state levels in science education place increased responsibility on our organization to succeed. As you browse our website, take special note of the impact of our signature education programs for students and educators. Our national reputation for developing cutting edge curriculum that integrates ethics into the teaching of life sciences resulted in additional federal support from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in recent years. We also received our first major grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF) on bioinformatics and ethics that includes an exceptionally innovative career component.

We are especially proud that our signature Student Bio Expo program celebrated its 11th year in 2011. We have now matched over 3500 high school students with scientists who have served as their individual advisors for nearly nine months annually. Many of these students are returning to us as mentors themselves.

As a community, we are stepping up to our responsibilities for inspiring our next generation of citizens and scientists. Our efforts are gaining traction, thanks to the commitment of so many of you. In November 2010, thousands of researchers and their extended teams, educators and community members volunteered to make our programs a success – from serving on our planning committees and advisory councils, to volunteering at Pacific Science Center during our fourth annual Life Sciences Research Weekend.

As you well know, this organization is blessed with a remarkable staff team who joins the Board and me in thanking you for making NWABR membership and support a priority. All of us look forward to partnering with you to continue our critical work in the months and years ahead.

With much appreciation,

Susan Adler, Executive Director