Society for Neuroscience Names 10 Early Career Policy Ambassadors for 2026

Science policy advocacy requires skills that most graduate programs and postdoctoral training programs do not teach: how to translate research findings for non-specialist audiences, how to engage effectively with elected officials and their staff, and how to build coalitions within and beyond the scientific community. The Society for Neuroscience has run a structured program to develop these skills in early-career scientists for several years, and the 2026 cohort of Early Career Policy Ambassadors was selected from a competitive applicant pool.

The 2026 Cohort

Ten neuroscientists were selected, representing graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, and early faculty from institutions across the country:

• Alison Bashford, Drexel University College of Medicine
• Amelia Cuarenta, PhD, University of Michigan
• Daniel Leman, PhD, Brandeis University
• Deja Monet, University of Washington
• Jung Hyun Park, Indiana University
• Labiba Aziz, SUNY Stony Brook University
• Ogechukwu Ngwu-Hyacinth, University of Alabama at Birmingham
• Pratham Bhanushali, West Virginia University
• Rodnie Colon-Ortiz, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
• Scholastica Go, Neuroscience Doctoral Program, Medical College of Wisconsin

Selection criteria emphasized dedication to scientific community advocacy, demonstrated leadership within their laboratories and local communities, and motivation to develop formal advocacy competencies. The geographic and career-stage diversity of the cohort reflects the program's aim to build advocacy capacity across the neuroscience field rather than concentrating it in a few research-intensive centers.

What the Program Involves

The Early Career Policy Ambassador program runs for 10 months. It begins with SfN's annual Capitol Hill Day in March, at which ambassadors meet directly with members of Congress and their staff to discuss science funding priorities and issues specific to the neuroscience community. This initial experience provides practical exposure to the mechanics of legislative engagement - how meetings are structured, what staff members need from scientists to communicate findings to their principals, and how to frame research priorities in terms that resonate outside the laboratory.

Beyond Capitol Hill Day, each ambassador is expected to conduct at least two additional advocacy-related activities at their home institution or within their local community during the program period. These activities range from organizing informational sessions for fellow trainees to engaging with local school systems, science outreach events, or media. The goal is to build a distributed network of scientists who understand advocacy well enough to practice it independently rather than only through organized events.

Why Early-Career Scientists in Policy Spaces

The rationale for investing in early-career advocacy development goes beyond producing articulate scientists who can explain their work. Federal funding decisions directly affect research careers at the formative stages: graduate fellowships, postdoctoral awards, and early-career grants are among the first casualties of budget pressure on agencies like the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. Scientists who have no experience with the policy process are poorly positioned to respond when funding environments shift.

The program also addresses a structural gap. Senior scientists who testify before congressional committees or serve on advisory panels have typically developed their advocacy skills informally, through accumulated experience over long careers. By building those skills earlier, SfN aims to expand the pool of scientists capable of effective engagement and to bring perspectives from earlier in the scientific career pipeline into policy conversations.

The Society for Neuroscience is a membership organization of approximately 35,000 basic scientists and clinicians who study the brain and nervous system. The Early Career Policy Ambassador program is one of several SfN initiatives aimed at connecting neuroscience research to public policy.