Get involved in politics to ensure that the new Obama administration makes research a high priority, policy makers urged researchers yesterday at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience.

Former NIH director Harold Varmus, Wendell Primus , senior advisor to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and former Congressman and lobbyist John Porter predicted the major funding hurdles facing the science research community in the coming months. Of course the economy is likely to top the bill, said Primus, with employment insurance and the federal food stamp program getting first priority to new funding. He added that despite the $1 billion NIH boost proposed in the $100 billion dollar stimulus package currently being debated by Congress, any further funding for biomedical research will be unlikely to pass.

Who Obama appoints as the new science advisor, and whether that position will be a legitimate cabinet placement, within close proximity to the president's office (President George W. Bush moved the current office out of the administration building) will be important things to look for in the first months of the new administration, said Porter. And be sure to listen to Obama's first State of the Union Address, he added, since this will set the tone for his administration's views on science.

Porter passionately beseeched the researchers in the room to reach out to local state representatives and senators, volunteer to advise them on scientific issues, and convince them of the importance of science to the community and health of the economy. Porter told scientists to ask their representatives to secure $25 billion in funding for science research to make up for six years of flat funding. He acknowledged that talking to the community may not be in the nature of some researchers but told the room to "get out of your comfort zone, that's when things get done."