Our last post dealt with the mysterious conservation of seasonally-mediated cycles across species. This is a specialty of Jackson Lab geneticist Clifford Rosen, who spends most of his time with mice. The work is soothing, a release from other professional worries; which involve, in addition to the osteoporosis care he dispenses one day a week at a local hospital, a rich schedule of FDA advisory committee membership. In fact, he's chairing the FDA's upcoming Avandia hearings.
Forget whale feces collection and toxic waste diving -- taking responsibility for that bitterly controversial debate has gotta be the worst job in science. Except it's not quite a job, because Rosen, like other FDA advisors, does it for free -- simply because he believes in the importance of good regulation, and wants to help.
Okay, okay, who actually does anything out of the goodness of their heart? Rosen must have, like many other FDA advisors who've drawn public wrath, a financial stake in the matter. Stocks in Avandia's manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline? Funding from a company that makes some other diabetes drug?
Well, Rosen does have industry ties. As a bit of digging in the Integrity in Science database reveals, he used to receive research funds from the International Dairy Foods Association.
In ten days, Rosen will be in the spotlight. No matter what he does, he'll make a lot of people angry: after moderating a discussion over how to handle findings that are bitterly contested by scientists and doctors, FDA critics will rake him over the coals for kowtowing to pharmaceutical might, or industry defenders will lambast him for being a lily-livered risk wimp. Both sides will probably call him, if only indirectly, a killer. And he'll have to deal with his own conscience, knowing that, no matter how well he runs the meeting and how hard the committee tries to get it right, they're using incomplete data to make a prediction that will affect millions of people.
For all this, Rosen will receive nothing but the satisfaction of having fulfilled an important duty to the best of his ability. And scientists do this sort of thing all the time -- out of the spotlight and for far lower stakes, generally, but the principle is the same. They give their time and energy to the pursuit of knowledge and the public good.
So here's to you, scientists.
