Comment from J K

I am a scientist doing research and teaching in cell and molecular neurobiology. I currently hold an NIH 15 grant for my research (and have received both NIH and NSF funding previously) investigating how signals from the gut and other tissues regulate neuronal signaling in different physiological conditions. This research is critical for helping to identify potential new therapeutic targets for a variety of neurological and neurodegenerative conditions in which neuronal signaling balance is disrupted – conditions that represent a huge disease burden in this country. I am writing to oppose Section 200.432, which would require pre-approval for all conference attendance. Being a faculty member at a primarily undergraduate institution where I am the only cellular neurobiologist, attending conferences is a vital way that I am able to share my lab’s research to get feedback from colleagues in my field. Attendance at scientific conferences helps to me to learn more easily about other work going on in my field and to keep abreast of the latest technologies since it is difficult to fully keep up with the scientific literature given my teaching load. Conference attendance also helps me to establish and maintain collaborations with researchers from around the world who support my science and allows me to take my student trainees to present the results of their research, which is critical for their networking and training in scientific communication. If provision 200.432 is enacted, it has the potential to limit my ability to share and receive feedback on my work, to establish important collaborations, to keep up with new technologies, as well as to take my students to present their work, which is vital for their scientific development. Many conferences do not finalize dates or venues until the year or so before they are held and sometimes my students or I need to attend new conferences that I would not have anticipated based on shifts in the direction our research has taken in light of new results. Thus, having to get all conferences pre-approved means that for any conference not listed in the original award terms (which would have been laid out at the start of the award up to several years in advance), it may not be approved. This provision would be harmful not only to my own lab and research, but multiple other labs at my institution who also receive federal funding for research grants and rely on conference attendance to support our scientific progress and that of our students. I urge OMB to eliminate this provision and to not enact this rule so as to keep open and abundant scientific communication which facilitates scientific progress for our nation.