Mark Lively, who took office as the 94th president of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) last week (July 1), plans to focus the group's policy efforts on issues such as animal use in research, rules for conflicts of interest, and biosecurity regulations relating to the use of select agents, FASEB said in a statement.

Image: Wake Forest University School of Medicine

"I think it's a good selection," says Alan Townsend, Lively's colleague at Wake Forest University in North Carolina. "He's very well versed with the policies that are confronting FASEB, and I think he'll be an excellent leader and a good representative for the science community."

FASEB will continue to focus on its core mission of educating policymakers with regard to research funding, Lively said in the statement. "This is a critical time for the biomedical sciences and for science policy, and FASEB will continue to provide a strong voice for working scientists."

Lively is a professor of biochemistry at Wake Forest University School of Medicine whose research focuses primarily on mechanisms of protein secretion, including identification of inhibitors of signal peptidases involved in the processing of secretory proteins. He has been an active member of the FASEB board since 2004, when he was appointed as the representative for the Association of Biomolecular Resource Facilities (ABRF). He has also held other FASEB positions, including the Vice President for Science Policy.

William T. Talman, M.D., a professor of neurology and neuroscience at the University of Iowa, was voted FASEB's new president-elect.


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