In 1985, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration approved a blood test for AIDS infection, scientists discovered the ozone hole, and IBM unveiled the first laptop. Ronald Reagan was President, the White House Science Advisor was a vocal supporter of �Star Wars� (or the Space Defense Initiative), a Florida congressman named Don Fuqua chaired the House Committee on Science & Technology, and I began my congressional fellowship on that committee dealing with issues related to biomedicine, bioethics and the new science of genetic engineering. This talk will explore how my experience as an ACS Congressional Fellowship challenged me as a scientist and pulled me in new career directions. I'll look back over my 30-year career that has straddled both the traditional science and the policy arenas, and share observations gained from mentoring scientists at the start of their policy-related careers.

Before DNA was a household word: My journey from bioscience to biopolicy

248th National Meeting (2014)

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