Mary-Ann Bjornsti, Ph.D., has been elected as president-elect of the largest coalition of biological and biomedical research associations in the United States, the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, also known as FASEB.
Her term as president-elect begins July 1. Bjornsti served as FASEB vice president-elect for Science Policy in 2020-21, and then moved to vice president for Science Policy in 2021-22.
FASEB, located near the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, is one of the most powerful forces for science in America. It is composed of 28 societies with 115,000 members. FASEB promotes research through collaborative advocacy as the voice for the basic biomedical research community. Each year, FASEB assesses the needs of that community and makes budget recommendations to Congress in support of the federal agencies that are tasked with securing America’s health and well-being.
FASEB also offers opinions to Congress on potential legislation, budget allocations and regulations regarding the practice of science, and it shares insights with federal agencies regarding policies that impact biomedical research.
“I am extremely honored and excited to take on this role,” said Bjornsti, who chairs the UAB Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, holds the Newman H. Waters Chair of Clinical Pharmacology, and is associate director for Translational Research for the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB. “FASEB is a strong and successful federation, and I look forward to working with the organization to carry out its mission and uphold the highest principles and standards for the biological and biomedical research community.”
Bjornsti is a member of three FASEB member societies: the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, or ASPET, the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and the Genetics Society of America. Bjornsti has a long record of service in public advocacy for the biological and biomedical research community. She served as ASPET’s representative to the FASEB Science Policy Committee from 2014 to 2020 and a member of ASPET’s Science Policy Committee. She is also ASPET’s past secretary/treasurer.
At UAB, Pharmacology and Toxicology is a department in the Marnix E. Heersink School of Medicine.