Verified by 
On this historic day, I thought I would post my thoughts. I watched the inaugural address from the cafeteria in the hospital where I work and was truly moved by the whole experience. I believe that we have a president who truly has our best interest in mind. I was particularly appreciative when he said that "We will restore science to its rightful place, and wield technology's wonders to raise health care's quality and lower its cost." I truly hope that he means what he says and will increase NIH funding (our main source of research funding in the U.S.) to allow scientists to do our job.
I was watching CNN the other day and Lou Dobbs was talking about how it is unreal that researchers devote their lives to science, spend many years (in my case 5 after my bachelors) in graduate school earning a PhD, only to realize after graduation that the U.S. does not value our contribution and we are lucky to receive a salary of $35-40,000 after graduation.
It is not my salary I want to speak about today, though, because there are many professions that I feel are overcompensated for their contribution to society and those that are very much undercompensated. I however, chose this profession knowing that I would not become rich, but to make a difference in people's lives and I could if I wanted to work at a biotech firm and make way more, so it is not my salary that I am concerned about, but rather funding for the research itself.
I think that the true cost of doing research is underappreciated. As researchers, we need to purchase equipment, pay subjects, pay for time in an MRI scanner etc. These are requirements to do our job and require public and private grants to support. Unfortunately with the current economic crisis and our former president for the past 8 years choosing to deny any increased funding to NIH, our current state is quite grim. Currently, NIH is funding approximately 18% of its applications and funding typically takes over a year to obtain even if you are the select few.
I receive many comments through this blog and others arguing that those with Asperger's and higher functioning forms of autism do not want to be "cured". I completely understand and respect your position. And in fact my research is not aimed at "curing" autism. Though those who are interested in it may use the knowledge we gain from some of my studies to develop more effective treatments. My goal in my research is to understand the mechanism leading to autism and related conditions. Not too long ago, it was thought that autism was caused by having "cold" unemotional mothers. Luckily, thanks to science, this theory has been debunked. Now, new equally damaging theories have cropped up and have been promoted by nonscientists. It is only through science that we may understand the biological and environmental factors that lead people to be who we are. It is through this knowledge that we may not only treat diseases and disorders that affect ones ability to live a happy/healthy life, but also accept the normal range of differences that make us who we are.
I truly hope that Obama keeps his promise and we see a renewed appreciation for scientific research in the upcoming years.
