Advocating for more research funding and stronger science infrastructure

APA Services is advocating for significant increases in overall funding for the National Science Foundation (NSF) and National Institutes of Health (NIH), plus targeted increases that would advance initiatives in the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), and National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD). More specifically, the association is: 

• Opposing drastic spending cuts that were proposed in connection with debt limit negotiations.
• Lobbying with the Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research (PDF, 263KB)opens in new window to support a $50.9 billion allocation for NIH in fiscal year (FY) 2024 (a 7.5% increase over FY23).
• Lobbying with the Coalition for National Science Funding (PDF, 104KB)opens in new window for at least $11.9 billion for NSF for FY24.
• Lobbying for a $200 million increase for NIMH as President Biden proposedopens in new window.
• Supporting appropriations report language that would target a funding increase for NIMH for its Strategic Framework to end mental health disparities in youth by 2031opens in new window, with a partnership that includes NICHD and NIMHD.
• Encouraging members of Congress to introduce separate legislation that would advance the Youth Mental Health Research Initiative (authorizing $500 million over 5 years to support NIH partnership efforts to eliminate youth mental health disparities). Once the bill is introduced, APA members can help advocate for its passage.
• Promoting research findings and agency priorities to congressional policymakers as leaders and members of advocacy coalitions. APA Advocacy staff serve on the board of the Coalition for Health Fundingopens in new window, 90 organizations that advocate in support of the budgets of U.S. Public Health Service Agencies. APA staff also colead the Friends of NIMHopens in new window coalition, and serve on the executive committees of the Friends of NICHDopens in new window, Friends of the National Institute on Drug Abuseopens in new window, and the Friends of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholismopens in new window (NIAAA), and are active in the Friends of the institute for Education Sciencesopens in new window and the Friends of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Qualityopens in new window. APA staff work to ensure congressional briefings and other events feature and are promoted to psychological scientists.

Ensuring that psychologists are supported by and benefit from science infrastructure is also an advocacy priority for the association. Infrastructure includes regulations that underlie the conduct of research, structure of funding agencies, and makeup of advisory bodies that determine what sort of research is funded, and the ability to conduct research using nonhuman animals. APA Advocacy staff are working with Science Directorate staff along with the Association for Psychological Science and the Federation of Associations in Behavioral and Brain Sciences to create events to educate members about funding opportunities at the Advanced Projects Research Agencies, including the new Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H). APA Services also hosted an Animal Research Hill Day on May 24, 2023, to educate Capitol Hill staff on the importance and public health value of animals in research.

APA Services shares psychological science with policymakers to support sound public policy. Advocacy Office staff do this by:

• Responding to federal requests for information with the assistance of expert members, sharing relevant data and citations. The latest examples include advising the Senate Health Education Labor and Pensions Committee about psychological science related to pandemic preparedness; commenting to the Office of Management and Budget on proposed changes in the use of federal data on race and ethnicity; and promoting psychological science relative to cybersecurity to the NSF.
• Collaborating with federal agencies and Capitol Hill offices that want to base legislation or policies on scientific findings about youth and social media. Through the testimony of APA’s Chief Science Officer Mitch Prinstein, PhD, and other scientists, and advocacy through coalitions of likeminded organizations, APA Services helped inform and draft legislation that seeks to hold social media companies accountable to reduce harmful content and cyberbullying and allow additional research on which to base policies that will protect youth. The Advocacy Office collaborated with APA leadership and expert members on the new APA health advisory for social media use in adolescence.
• Monitoring and speaking out on federal policies on artificial intelligence, climate change, the future of work, equity, diversity and inclusion, and many other topics, to ensure psychological science and scientists are at the table.

Get involved by reading and sharing the Science Spotlight newsletter from APA’s Science Directorate and by joining the Psychology Advocacy Network to receive action alerts and/or the Washington Update newsletter from APA Services. In addition, please answer the call if the Advocacy Office asks for someone with your expertise to comment on a federal regulation or plan and encourage your division to appoint a division advocacy partner, a liaison to the Advocacy Office. 

For more information, contact Pat Kobor.