NIH principal deputy director Dr. Raynard Kington (l) accepts FASEB’s 2010 Public Service Award from federation president Dr. Mark Lively (c) and president-elect Dr. Bill Talman. Photo: Lawrence Green

The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) honored NIH principal deputy director Dr. Raynard Kington with its annual Public Service Award in recognition of his distinguished career and many contributions to the overall policy direction of the agency. The award recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to biological and medical research through their work in government, public affairs, journalism, science policy or related fields.

Presenting the award, FASEB president Dr. Mark Lively noted that Kington earned the profound gratitude of the research community for the leadership he provided during the development, initiation and implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) programs. “ARRA presented challenges of scale, speed and scope, unlike anything that NIH had done before,” said Lively. “Raynard Kington explained the new and unprecedented program to the extramural community and mobilized the entire NIH staff, who worked heroically to respond to the new mandates, develop new programs, review tens of thousands of new applications, make thousands of awards and surmount new regulatory hurdles.”

Thanking FASEB, Kington said, “I accept this award on behalf of all of the National Institutes of Health staff.” About ARRA, he added that he was “incredibly confident that there will be advances in knowledge directly related to the new investment in research.” Kington encouraged scientists and institutions who received ARRA funds to educate the public about the projects that were funded and explain why they are important to improving the health of the American people. He also urged greater efforts to promote diversity of the scientific workforce and encouraged FASEB societies to begin a conversation about changing the fundamental business model of the biomedical research enterprise.

More than 100,000 members in 23 societies comprise FASEB, making it the largest coalition of biomedical research associations in the U.S.