Want to Spare Science Funding? Invite a Pol to Your Lab

John Porter, the Republican former US Representative from Illinois, tells Nature Medicine that researchers looking to spare science funding from the federal budget 'chopping block' ought to "get their member of Congress into their laboratory to see what they’re doing, because once they connect how the research can make a difference in human health, they’ll be invested in it." If that's not possible, Porter suggests writing an op-ed to demonstrate the importance of their work. Better yet, he adds, "go to the candidates’ debate, raise the questions, make them accountable, make them understand the importance of medical research."