Senator Warner recently hosted the Virginia Summit on Science, Engineering and Medicine, which brought together Virginia’s members of the National Academies to increase collaboration between the Commonwealth’s scientific leaders and advance Virginia’s national standing in the fields of science, engineering and medicine.  Appointment to one of the National Academies is a lifetime designation and one of the highest honors for scientists in the U.S.  The summit also served as the kick-off of the Virginia Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine (VASEM), a newly-created group whose membership includes Virginia’s 126 members of the National Academies. 

UVA’s Dr.  Joe Campbell, the President of VASEM, and Dr. Ralph Cicerone, President of the National Academy of Sciences, opened Friday’s summit, which took place at the National Academy of Sciences building in Washington, D.C.

Senator Warner encouraged attendees to invest time and resources in VASEM.  He said that important questions about how to grow the overall number of academy members, how to groom the next generation of top scientists, how best to how to include more industry partners, and measurable increases in research funding and collaborations across institutions are key priorities.  The Senator also encouraged the group to determine whether all universities should be able to send a representative to VASEM--  45% of the academy members are from universities, but the majority of members are in industry, federal agencies, and other entities. 

“With our current budget constraints, the Commonwealth’s best and brightest must come together and work to further Virginia’s role as a leader in the sciences,” said Senator Warner.  “I look forward to working with you all as we continue to foster additional connections and further research.”

The daylong conference focused on energy and health, and featured speakers from a variety of institutions and companies, including:

• Mildred Dresselhaus, Kavli Prize in Nanonscience winner and Professor of Physics and Electrical Engineering, Emerita Institute Professor, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Arun Majumdar, PhD Vice President for Energy, Google and first Director of ARPA-E
• Francis S. Collins, MD, PhD, Director, National Institutes of Health
• William W. Stead, MD, McKesson Foundation Professor of Biomedical Informatics and Medicine, Vanderbilt University
• Rita Colwell, PhD, Distinguished University Professor, University of Maryland, College Park, and Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health
• Paul Alivisatos, PhD, Director, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Senator Warner said he was encouraged by the willingness of attendees to engage with each other.

“This is a great beginning of what I hope will be an ongoing exchange of ideas between Virginia’s leaders in science, engineering and medicine,” the Senator said. “Going forward, I hope that we can include an even wider range of individuals who will help to advance the goals of VASEM.”