Policy makers and scientists usually inhabit different worlds. Yet, the scientific and technical issues confronting society are becoming increasingly complex, and the solutions more difficult to identify. The Science and Technology Policy Fellowship program of the American Association for the Advancement of Science helps bridge the gap between scientists and policy makers. One of this year’s fellows is Seth Cohen, an associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry at UC San Diego. This year he is in Washington D.C. on sabbatical from his research developing inhibitors for metal-containing enzymes that play a role in many diseases, including arthritis, cancer and heart disease. We caught up with him to find out what it is like to make the transition from research lab to political scene.

This is your first week at the Office of Science and Technology Policy. What are your impressions so far?

Very positive. My new colleagues at OSTP are extremely interesting and engaging. They have backgrounds from all over the scientific world: biochemists, aerospace engineers, veterinary doctors, medical doctors, and many others. There is even another research professor – a biophysics professor from U.C. Berkeley. All of the people at OSTP have been very generous with their time to tell me about their various policy portfolios, which span a dizzying array of topics within science and technology.

In this election year, does it feel as though there is a buzz in Washington?

Having never lived in Washington it is hard to say, but in many respects it definitely seems to “buzz” compared to San Diego. During my orientation (at the AAAS) several of our speakers referred to this time of year as the “silly season.” It appears to be a common phrase for the state of things in D.C. right before a presidential election.

How did you become interested in being a Science and Technology Policy Fellow?

My interests in this area go back to my high school days, when I was involved in the Junior Statesmen of America, a kind of government and debate society. This continued in college where I double majored in chemistry and political science. Since college, my policy interests had been sidelined, but I always maintained an interest.

I felt that this fellowship could be a good way to embrace my longstanding interest in government, but also serve as a way I could give back to the same system that has so generously supported my research. I also thought that this would be a good way to speak out on behalf of my academic colleagues, in a time where funding of science faces many challenges and a cacophony of competing interests.

What projects will you be working on? What are the backgrounds of your collaborators?

It is too early to say what projects I will be working on. However, my fellowship is the AAAS Roger Revelle Fellowship in Global Stewardship. In that context, I have expressed an interest on issues related to sustainable and renewable energy, and my colleagues and supervisors at OSTP appear very open to this idea. There is a surprising degree of independence at OSTP, within the priorities of the White House, and so in the long run I should have a reasonable degree of input to what my final projects are. In terms of collaborators, OSTP plays a major role in interagency coordination, that is, helping different parts of the federal government coordinate their research efforts. So I expect that I will be interacting with scientists and administrators from many different agencies, including NSF, NIH, DOE, DOD, and others, depending on the nature of my projects.

What do you hope to accomplish this year? What do you think will be the greatest challenges?

I hope to be a good representative of my academic community, and at the same time gain a broader, fresh perspective on science as it relates to government and society. Of course, I hope to do some good policy work and contribute to some good science policy decisions. There are bound to be many challenges, especially adjusting to the nature of science policy versus science research, although my colleagues at OSTP and my orientation at AAAS have made this easier than I expected. To be honest, I think that the biggest challenge will be balancing the workload of my fellowship with my responsibilities to my research group at U.C. San Diego. It is a lot of work, and I want to have time to enjoy the East Coast with my family!

This year you’ll be bridging two worlds (science and policy). How do you think your work at the OSTP will influence your work at UCSD when you return to your lab full time?

When I complete my time at OSTP, I will have a very different perspective on research that I hope will enhance my program at U.C. San Diego. Being here might help me to get a better sense of what the most pressing scientific problems are, or at least which ones the government is prioritizing. In this way, I might get some fresh research ideas and see how the studies going on in my laboratory might address some of these pressing questions.

I also hope my time at OSTP will influence my teaching, particularly at the undergraduate level, where I plan to offer some new coursework (perhaps as a freshman seminar) in the role of science in policy making and how policy making influences science. Science policy is really a very different perspective than being at the bench and so I certainly hope it broadens my horizons in a way that will influence my career, my laboratory, and my university in a positive way.