From Left to Right: Michigan’s 4th District Rep. John Moolenaar, Dr. Iain Boyd, and Madeline Nykaza

Over fifty universities, including The University of Michigan and Wayne State University, form The Science Coalition – a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to sustaining the Federal Government’s investment in basic scientific research as a means to stimulate the economy, spur innovation and drive America’s global competitiveness. Michigan’s 4th District Representative John Moolenaar joined the Coalition at their July 11th, 2018 Headliner Breakfast in Washington D.C.

Rep. Moolenaar was introduced by Dr. Iain Boyd, the James E. Knott Professor of Engineering at U-M. Dr. Boyd expressed thanks to Rep. Moolenaar for all he does to support federal investments in scientific research.

Rep. Moolenaar is on the House Appropriations Committee, where he serves on the Subcommittee of Labor-HHS-Education. During the Headliner Breakfast he spoke about the importance of increasing funding for NIH to fight cancer, Alzheimer’s and the opioid crisis. Afterwards, he fielded questions from the attendees about how universities can best engage with Members of Congress to support their shared goals.

From left to right: Craig Lindwarm (APLU), Madeline Nykaza (UofM), Sen. Peters, Thomas Stephenson, Mollie Benz Flounlacker (AAU), and Jacob Courville (MSU).

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Thomas Stephenson, of Greenville, Michigan has a passion for politics. When Thomas was eight years old his grandmother took him to Washington, DC to meet with legislators from Michigan. That trip kindled his desire for a firsthand look at the political system. Thomas, who was diagnosed with a congenital cardiac condition, is now eighteen years old. On Tuesday, July 10th, U.S. Senator Gary Peters (MI) partnered with Make-A-Wish Mid-Atlantic to fulfill Thomas’ wish to be U.S. Senator for a day. Thomas joined Senator Peters’ for a full day, and participated in the Senator’s weekly coffee with constituents, meetings with stakeholders, a floor speech, briefings, media interviews and more.

Thomas will be attending MSU in the fall and plans to study nursing while remaining actively engaged in the political process – the cost of college being one of his top policy concerns. For that reason, Sen. Peters invited U-M, MSU, APLU and AAU to his office to discuss what colleges are doing in Michigan and nationwide to make education more affordable and accessible. Madeline Nykaza from the U-M D.C. office attended the meeting and discussed programs on U-M’s campus aimed at achieving that goal, such as the Go Blue Guarantee and Wolverine Pathways.

It’s exciting to see young people like Tom who are interested in public service and want to learn more about our democratic process,
said Senator Peters.

As the Director of Licensing for U-M Tech Transfer, Bryce supports the Licensing Staff in working with faculty from around campus to commercialize inventions created at U-M.
(Photo by Mike Waring, Washington Office)

Bryce Pilz (second from left) speaks at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday at a conference about how current patent laws and regulations are stifling innovation. Pilz, director of licensing for U-M’s Office of Technology Transfer, cited two examples of medical diagnostic tests developed at U-M that failed to get patent protection, hindering the development of those technologies. The conference focused on ways Congress and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office can improve the situation.