Federal Agency Decisions on Membership — April 2025

SSR IS OUR PROFESSIONAL FAMILY

Like many of you, the SSR Board continues to monitor the changes in policy, personnel, and infrastructure at major federal agencies (NIH, USDA, NSF, EPA), which fund our member scientists. These changes include termination of currently funded grants, removal of application requests, canceled/rescheduled peer review panels, delayed advisory council meetings, and loss of agency and staff scientist expertise. We are heartbroken for those whose lives have been upended by these recent events at the federal level. We are also concerned about what this means for the sustainability of our field of reproductive science and science in general.

SSR LEADERSHIP IS TAKING ACTION TO HELP OUR SOCIETY

The SSR Board is mitigating the impact of these recent actions.

  1. Annual Meeting
    1. Registration rates are being kept as low as possible with traditional early bird registration rates extended to the day preceding the Annual Meeting.
    1. Late-breaking abstracts are being accepted with a submission deadline of May 15th (https://ssr.org/events/2025-annual-meeting/).
    1. We are reducing the time for abstract notification to allow increased time for visa processing.
    1. We will allocate an additional  ~$20K for travel grants to trainees and early-stage career investigators (details to come).
  2. FASEB Capital Hill Day -President Dr. Jennifer Wood participated in the FASEB Capital Hill Day on March 18, 2025. Together with representatives from 20 other biological societies, Jen met with members of the House of Representatives and Senate and their staffers. She shared the importance of funding for biomedical and animal agriculture advances, the return on investment of taxpayer dollars spent on research, the negative effects of lost funding on trainees and the future of the academia and biotechnology workforce, and the implications of having facilities and administrative costs capped at 15%.

SSR COMMITTEES CONTINUE TO OFFER IMPORTANT RESOURCES

  1. Publications Committee -Members can publish in Biology of Reproduction with no page charges
  2. Membership Committee -2025 RFA for SSR Emerging Investigator grants will be released soon
  3. Virtual Education Committee
    1. Webinars (https://ssr.org/webinars/) with the next Rising Star webinar scheduled on April 16, 2025. Register here (https://ssr.org/events/upcoming-events/rising-stars-webinar-4/).
    1. Podcasts (https://ssr.org/ssr-resources/ssr-podcast/)
  4. Public Affairs Committee -Science and policy resources are available here (https://ssr.org/ssr-resources/science-and-policy-resources/).

SSR MEMBERS – WE URGE YOU TO ACT!

  1. Reach Out to Your Congressional Leaders

As a Society Member of FASEB, SSR has access to FASEB resources and detailed instructions on how to advocate for science (www.faseb.org/science-policy-and-advocacy).

  • Join an SSR Committee

One consequence of the recent policy changes was the necessity for some SSR members to step down from committees. Others have voiced concerns about vulnerability if they continue to serve on committees.

  • Engage With Public Affairs Committee Chair

We are looking for additional ways to get our message to the public and to policy makers.

  • Hold To SSR’s Mission and Values
  • Continue the mission to advance the science of reproduction, fertility, and development for the benefit of humans and animals.
  • Live our core values: promoting scientific literacy, inclusion, education, partnership, collegiality, curiosity, and sustainability.

One of THE MOST important resources we have is our individual voices and our collective voice as a Society.  Together with the SSR Board, we urge you to reach out to your congressional leaders, attend the SSR Annual Meeting, engage in your SSR community, hold fast to the mission and values of SSR, and support our friends and colleagues.

Back to top