The AAMC joined over 60 organizations on a Sept. 4 letter to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and federal research funding agencies stressing the importance of balancing “an openly collaborative scientific environment and protecting our economic and national security.”
In addition to OSTP, the letter was sent to research leadership at the Department of Energy, Department of Defense, National Institutes of Health, and National Science Foundation. It emphasizes the critical contributions of international scientists to the U.S. scientific enterprise and requests that the federal government solicit input from the science and engineering community when developing policies and requirements to address scientific integrity and security concerns.
The issue of undue foreign influence at U.S. research institutions has been an increasing area of focus for federal science agencies over the past several years. The AAMC is developing a set of issue briefs on this topic, and the first two communications focused on NIH policy and the broader federal response are now available.