New video series highlights the people who fuel America's innovation pipeline

The researchers reflect on their work as well as how the U.S. system for funding research makes the United States a leader. "Because of the opportunities provided by federal research funding, we are developing a generation of scientists that has no competitor on planet Earth," says Erik Dutson, executive medical director of the Center for Advanced Surgical and Interventional Technology at the University of California, Los Angeles.

They also talk about the risks of decreased funding. "If you have a population of scientists that [don't] have the resources to train the next generation for even five years, the impact of that lack of individuals who are trained to do innovative research will be felt for decades to come," says Lilianne Mujica-Parodi, assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Stony Brook University.

In addition to the "Innovators" video series, The Science Coalition has produced a complementary brochure and a new webpage (innovators.sciencecoalition.org) that is dedicated to telling the stories of federally-funded university researchers across the country. The work of these researchers, and many thousands of others, will drive innovations in medicine, technology, energy, safety and the environment – leading the way toward a healthier, more sustainable, secure and prosperous future for all Americans. Some of the featured work includes:

A team of Yale doctors who forever changed the life of a young girl when they developed and performed an operation to correct one of the most serious types of congenital heart defects. This was the first operation of its kind performed in the United States;

An Auburn University food safety engineer who has developed a tiny sensor that is transforming the way inspectors test food for biological pathogens;

A Northeastern University professor who seeks to bring about a revolution in electrochemical energy conversion and storage;

A team of University of South Florida marine scientists who have turned a new generation autonomous underwater vehicle into a unique marine observing and reporting system – that uses Twitter to report its findings;

A team of West Virginia University researchers who are working to make the battlefields safer for soldiers by developing a new, unique line of unmanned aerial vehicles for reconnaissance and defense; and

Ohio State researchers who describe efforts to study how one species of coral is surviving despite the odds—far from sunlight in a warming ocean.

INFORMATION:

The Science Coalition brochure and videos can be viewed at innovators.sciencecoalition.org.

The Science Coalition is a non-profit, nonpartisan organization of the nation's leading public and private research universities. It is dedicated to sustaining strong federal funding of basic scientific research as a means to stimulate the economy, spur innovation and drive America's global competitiveness. Learn more at www.sciencecoalition.org.

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