FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Melissa Stek, media@aasforum.org
Washington, D.C.— Yesterday, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Dr. Monica Bertagnolli issued a statement voicing the agency’s support of the Asian American scholar community and recognizing its exceptional contributions to scientific advancement. The statement also highlighted NIH’s new Decision Matrix for Assessing Potential Foreign Interference for Covered Individuals or Senior/Key Personnel and an accompanying memorandum, which provided the agency’s policies and procedures for risk assessment and mitigation with regard to foreign interference in NIH-funded research. The Decision Matrix and memo are intended as a guide for grant evaluators as well as researchers in understanding the activities that will lead to further inquiry in a grant application or award. The statement comes after AASF hosted a roundtable discussion with NIH Director Dr. Monica Bertagnolli and her team earlier this year to provide a platform for university leadership, professional associations, and NIH to discuss issues that concern Asian American researchers and the broader academic community.
In their engagement with NIH, AASF acted as a thought leader emphasizing the importance of having a public statement in support of Asian American scholars and a matrix with a memo. We lifted the importance of offering more clarity for Asian American scholars and addressing many of their questions, such as what activities are allowed, in an increasingly complicated and challenging academic research environment. Please note that AASF can offer recommendations and suggestions, but ultimately does not have the final say or authority in the final product. However, we believe that having a voice and a seat at the table is important for better policies and greater understanding by federal agencies of the concerns on the ground. With that in mind, AASF worked to advance our mission to empower Asian American scholars by providing comments and recommendations directly to NIH for the statement, matrix, and accompanying memorandum.
AASF Executive Director Gisela Perez Kusakawa released the following statement:
“The Asian American Scholar Forum has played a critical role in working with and uplifting the voices of Asian American scholars with the federal government, including multiple agencies, such as NIH. Asian American scholars in biological and health science are more vulnerable as their livelihood and income are often dependent on NIH funding. This makes the support of NIH even more important for our communities. As such, we deeply appreciate NIH Director Dr. Monica Bertagnolli‘s emphasis on the importance of the relationship with the Asian American scholar community and the significant contributions that they have made to our country. It was a crucial step forward for NIH to provide a decision matrix and memo that is publicly available, allowing greater clarity and feedback from stakeholders, universities, and the broader scientific community. We appreciate the NIH effort to repair relationships, reduce the chilling effect, and recognize the invaluable role of Asian Americans scholars, and encourage international collaborations.
AASF is committed to publicly serving our country by providing expertise and constructive dialogue and working with all federal agencies, including NIH, to uphold shared principles of international collaboration, transparency, inclusivity, and research integrity. I would like to give special thanks to key thought leaders within AASF on our work to provide the roundtable platform and offer Asian American scholar perspectives to NIH and university leadership, such as, Drs. Gang Chen, Chuan He, Kai Li, Haifan Lin, and Xihong Lin. We also thank all our AASF fellows and members for their support and feedback on our various efforts with multiple federal agencies. We have a long road ahead, but we can all agree that our country benefits from the extraordinary contributions of Asian American scholars and the importance of talent recruitment and retention for U.S. leadership in science and technology and for the benefit of all Americans.
In all our engagements with the federal government, AASF has communicated the importance of addressing the climate of fear and alienation experienced by Asian American scholars, providing transparent and clear policies and procedures, ensuring the principles of due process are upheld, and how fundamental talent recruitment and retention is to the welfare of our country. Progress can include providing up-to-date case studies and examples that are applicable to the current concerns of the day or publicly available decision matrices, like the most recent one providing NIH’s standards and metrics in order to promote trust and transparency and provide notice to scholars on the evaluation process. However, this is just the first step of many that will be needed to create a welcoming and thriving environment for the Asian American scholar community. AASF will continue to work vigilantly on ensuring that Asian American scholars and researchers are supported, that their concerns are heard, and that they have a seat at the table with policymakers whose decisions impact their lives, pursuit of their careers and American dreams, and opportunities to contribute to our country.”
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Asian American Scholar Forum (AASF) is a national non-profit that promotes academic belonging, openness, freedom, and equality for all. In response to heightened anti-Asian sentiments and profiling in the U.S., AASF has been a leading national voice fighting for the rights of Asian American and immigrant scientists, researchers, and scholars. AASF membership includes members from the National Academy of Engineering, the National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Science and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, in addition to past and current university presidents, provost, vice provosts, deans, associate deans and past and current department chairs.