First Public Health Fair on Capitol Hill

Published1 Aug 2016
Reviewed1 Aug 2016
Author Brittany Meyer
Source BrainFacts/SfN

Visitors to the Public Health Fair view and touch specimens of the human brain, heart, lungs, and spinal cord.

Society for Neuroscience, 2016.

Neuroscientist Paul Aravich shows visitors a human brain and skull specimen.

Society for Neuroscience, 2016.

Andrew D. Kessler, founder and principal of Slingshot Solutions LLC (left), with Reps. Gene Green (middle) and Rob Wittman (right) hold brain specimens and discuss the importance of NIH funding.

Andrew Kessler, founder and principal of Slingshot Solutions LLC (left), with Reps. Gene Green (middle) and Rob Wittman (right), hold brain specimens and discuss the importance of NIH funding.

Society for Neuroscience, 2016.

Participants hold a spinal cord as Neuroscientist Hilary Gerstein describes its role in the nervous system.

Participants hold a spinal cord as neuroscientists explain its function.

Society for Neuroscience, 2016.

An attendee at the Public Health Fair holds a human brain.

Society for Neuroscience, 2016.

A Public Health Fair attendee dons a pair of vision-shifting goggles for an activity demonstrating the brain’s plasticity.

Society for Neuroscience, 2016.

On July 13, 2016, 40 public health-related agencies, nonprofits, companies, and foundations participated in the first Public Health Fair on Capitol Hill. Reps. Rob Wittman (R-VA) and Gene Green (D-TX), co-chairs of the Congressional Public Health Caucus, kicked off the event, which aimed to educate members of Congress and their staff about how investing in scientific research leads to many benefits for public health.

At the Society for Neuroscience and BrainFacts.org booth participants examined human brain specimens and discussed hot topics in neuroscience with SfN members Paul Aravich of Eastern Virginia Medical School and Hilary Gerstein of the University of Pennsylvania.

More than 200 attendees learned about public health issues through activities such as HIV tests, holding living spiders, and quizzes about diabetes and eye health.

“Following the success of the first fair, we hope to make this an annual event,” said Emily Holubowich, executive director of the Coalition for Health Funding, which organized the event.

“Lawmakers need to know that the decisions they make about things like NIH funding fund programs that impact real people, including their own families."

Visit the Coalition for Health Funding website to learn more.

About the Author

Brittany Meyer

Brittany Meyer is the Society for Neuroscience’s Federal Advocacy Manager. She combines her love of policy and science to push for favorable laws and regulations for neuroscience research.