My journey into science policy and more specifically science advocacy was an unexpected one but has been incredibly rewarding. During my first year in the IBS program I went to on an alternative career’s talk because like all first-year graduate students, I had no clue what I wanted to do but I wanted to keep all my options open. Through this talk, I made a few connections and ended up talking with Alex Helman, PhD., who was a current graduate student and the Ambassador for Public Policy for the Alzheimer’s Association in the KY-06 district. I soon joined her advocate team and upon her graduation, I became the Ambassador for the KY-06 district.
In my role at the Association, I lead a team of three other advocates to promote policy for the Alzheimer’s Association. As a group, we promote the policies through many facets including: one-on-one district meetings at the Congressman’s district office, writing letters to the editor and being active advocates on Twitter. Since becoming the Ambassador, my team and I have helped increase the funding for Alzheimer’s disease research by $775 million dollars. We have helped push through the BOLD Act which will help build a better infrastructure in the United States for patients, caregivers, and medical workers. We have also had our Congressman co-sponsor many other important bills that will support both patients and their caregivers.
As both an ambassador and an Alzheimer’s disease researcher, I have a unique opportunity to be able to advocate for an increase in funding that will have a direct impact on my own research. This allows me to show the Congressman the work he has supported through the increases in funding. Having an opportunity to advocate for the Alzheimer’s Association has been an incredible opportunity in my graduate career and one that has changed my career path and overall outlook on advocacy, forever. If you have ever slightly considered science policy or even science communication, consider advocating for an organization or group you are passionate about (even if that isn’t where your field of research is!), I promise, you won’t regret it!