Biophysical Society Newsletter - July 2015

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BIOPHYSICAL SOCIETY NEWSLETTER 9
JULY 2015
(TWD) in August. The division supports a variety
of research training, career development and
diversity-building activities at the undergraduate
through faculty levels. As director, Gammie will
oversee these programs and lead strategic planning
for the division, including optimizing approaches
to address scientific workforce needs. She will also
play a role in similar activities across NIH and
among other federal and nonfederal agencies and
organizations.
Gammie is currently a senior lecturer in molecular
biology at Princeton University. In addition, she
directs the university’s Program for Diversity and
Graduate Recruitment in Molecular and Quan-
titative Biology and its Summer Undergraduate
Research Program in Molecular and Quantitative
Biology. She is also an associate clinical member
at the Cancer Institute of New Jersey. Gammie’s
research focuses on understanding how defects in
DNA mismatch repair lead to cancer.
Gammie earned a BA in biology from Reed
College and a PhD in molecular biology from
Oregon Health Science Center.
The acting director of the new center is W. Fred
Taylor, PhD, who has served as chief of the
TWD’s Capacity Building Branch since 2013 and
as director of the IDeA program since 1998.
For more information about the Center for
Research Capacity Building, visit www.nigms.nih.
gov/about/overview/pages/crcb.aspx.
Congressional Fellowship
(Continued from page 1)
“As a long-time BPS member (my first meet-
ing was as a grad student in 1987), I am deeply
honored to represent the Society as the inaugural
Congressional Fellow,” noted Wadkins. “I am
hopeful that my time in Washington will prove
beneficial to other BPS members and the overall
scientific community in the United States.”
The Society’s leadership decided to offer the fel-
lowship in recognition that public policy increas-
ingly impacts scientific research, and basic science
literacy is increasingly needed to develop respon-
sible policy. Through the fellowship, the Society’s
leaders hope to provide a bridge between scientists
and policymakers. This is also what Wadkins
hopes to accomplish while in Washington. Wad-
kins said that while his interest in politics began
as a child when his father served in the Mississippi
Legislature, his motivation to get involved was
sparked by the 2010 US mideterm elections. “It
struck me that many who were elected in that
wave were not making policy decisions based on
sound science. When I saw the advertisement for
the BPS Congressional Fellowship, it sounded like
exactly what I wanted to do, which is to be a voice
for science’s role in US public policy.” Wadkins
is hoping that his own background, growing up
in the South and attending a public university,
will allow him to relate personally to many of the
members currently serving in Congress, and help
him gain their trust in providing scientific input
on policy matters.
Wadkins plans to return to Ole Miss after his year
on Capitol Hill. He hopes he will take back with
him a greater understanding of how to most effec-
tively communicate to elected officials the benefits
of science to the economy and quality of life in the
US. He will be providing periodic updates for
the Society newsletter—so stay tuned!
Interested in using your science skills
to inform science policy?
Interested in spending a year
working on Capitol Hill in
Washington helping develop policy?
Apply to be the 2016-2017
BPS Congressional Fellow!
Application deadline:
December 15, 2015
Visit for additional information.