On Saturday, April 22, scientists from all branches of this nation’s investment in research, as well as their supporters and stakeholders will descend on our nation’s capital – and cities throughout the nation – for the March for Science, an event intended to celebrate the scientific enterprise and the research that has advanced (and continues to advance) us as a society.
AcademyHealth is proud to be an official partner for this event and we will be marching alongside our colleagues in the broader scientific community on the 22nd in honor of our mission to improve health and the performance of the health system by supporting the production and use of evidence to inform policy and practice. Bringing forth the best evidence to policymakers and ensuring sustained and adequate federal funding for our nation’s robust research enterprise has long been at the center of AcademyHealth’s priorities. Evidence – and the data needed to create it – is a fundamental public good. As such, our policymakers have a responsibility to support and sustain this work.
We see this march as a way to not only show AcademyHealth’s role within, and solidarity for, the scientific community, but also as a way to celebrate how science has propelled us forward as a nation in all sectors, including but not limited to health and health care, and why continued investments in science, including health services research, mean a better shared future.
As the professional home of health services research, we see alignment in the March for Science’s core principles and our own goals. At the heart of these principles are the notion that #ScienceServes the common good; that science should be open, inclusive, and accessible; that #EvidenceMatters and that evidence-based policy is in the public’s best interest; that funding for science and its applications should be sustained; and that we as a society should support scientists.
We also embrace the March’s commitment to political neutrality. AcademyHealth is a non-partisan organization, and since our inception, we have been proud to work with thought leaders and policymakers – Democrats, Republicans, and Independents – in the development and delivery of timely and relevant research-based strategies to improve health and health care.
We look forward to paying tribute to science and to all of those who make it happen – federal funders, foundations, research institutions, universities and academic medical centers, industry and individuals like AcademyHealth’s nearly 4,000 members and partners– on April 22.
Should you choose to participate, I hope to see you there. And please join us on social media at #ScienceMatters and #EvidenceMatters.