Scientists are the kings and queens of data, accuracy, and facts. So in their honor, here are some figures and a recap of Saturday’s March for Science.
On Earth Day, April 22, 2017, hundreds of thousands of people (and quite a few dogs) took to the streets of major cities around the world. According to organizers, over 600 marches took place across all seven continents (Antartica included).
While it was publicized as a bipartisan movement, a lot of angst and poster real estate was directed against President Trump’s proposed funding cuts to science, environmental protection, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In its current form, Trump’s budget blueprint would cut $5.8 billion or 22.4 percent of the NIH’s funding. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is in for much worse.
Protestors also took aim at a perceived devaluing of science and evidence-based policy making by the Trump administration. The concerns there range from his denial of climate change, collaboration with anti-vaccine leaders, and the new phenomenon of “alternative facts.”
In short, there was plenty to fuel the legions of scientists and non-scientists that marched throughout the world.
Wondering what all that fuzz is about downtown? It's the #ScienceMarchSD, & we've got all the deets: https://t.co/nYMxWSP0BW @ScienceMarchSD pic.twitter.com/WkmHB09scY
— KPBS News (@KPBSnews) April 22, 2017
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
As could be expected, the major life science hubs came out in force.
San Diego police reported a crowd of around 15,000 and around 12,000 people marched in Los Angeles. A definitive figure could not be found for San Francisco, but it was said to be in the tens of thousands.
On the other coast, an estimated 20,000 participants turned out in both New York City and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Official figures aren’t yet in for Boston, though it was also said to be in the tens of thousands. Some 25,000 people are listed as having “attended” on the local event’s Facebook page.
A crowd of at least 40,000 took to the streets in Chicago, Illinois, greatly exceeding expectations. By mid-afternoon, Chicago police were reportedly discouraging anyone else from attending as the numbers strained event logistics.
At the center of it all in Washington D.C., tens of thousands braved the rain to hear speakers such as Bill Nye (the Science Guy) underscore the importance of science today and in the future.
Today, we're at the #MarchForScience promoting the progress of science and the useful arts of engineering. pic.twitter.com/VJJKSMahD3
— Bill Nye (@BillNye) April 22, 2017
The movement garnered a small reaction from President Trump, who tweeted about Earth Day two times. The first was vague, while the second tweet reiterated his emphasis on job creation: “I am committed to keeping our air and water clean but always remember that economic growth enhances environmental protection. Jobs matter!”
In an official Earth Day statement, his administration didn’t acknowledge the core issues such as climate change, vaccines, and funding cuts. Instead, the conversation was once again directed towards a stated need for economic growth that can later serve environmental protection.
But it wasn’t his day. Saturday was all about science.
Teghpal Singh, senior manager of new product strategy & development at Blueprint Medicines
Many small and mid-cap life science companies marched as a team, including Blueprint Medicines in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
In an email forwarded by a company representative, CEO and President Jeff Albers said the team felt passionate about the cause.
“The Blueprint team was proud to join thousands of others from the greater-Boston life sciences community in marching to support evidence-based science. The company’s participation in this event was driven by our employees and their passion for pursuing scientific and medical breakthroughs that can save and improve the lives of people with cancer and serious rare diseases. I could not be more proud of their commitment to science and the patients we aim to serve.”
The Blueprint Medicines team at the march in Boston
A handful Cambridge groups made a decisive stand for diversity in science as part of the Boston march. With the hashtag #diversitywins, the three organizations said in a statement that diversity was central to science innovation.
“In recognition of the need for diversity to advance science and medicine, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, together with MassBio and the Kendall Square Association joined with the greater Boston scientific community to show the world the diverse workforce that powers our scientific innovation engine by taking an aerial photo that captures the many faces behind biotech innovation.”
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, with MassBio and the Kendall Square Association. (Photo by Sean Browne photography)
At the same time, there was a conspicuous silence from many large life science companies and organizations such as PhRMA, which represents the pharmaceutical industry. On Twitter, PhRMA ignored the event in favor of its freshly-launched public relations campaign that – somewhat ironically – strives to humanize the science behind medical advances.
Of the seven biopharma leaders that met with Trump in January, only Pfizer and Celgene acknowledged and supported the March for Science through their corporate twitter accounts. Novartis, Amgen, Merck and Johnson & Johnson all tweeted about Earth Day but not the March for Science, perhaps a sign that it was indeed politically charged. As with PhRMA, Eli Lilly didn’t mention Earth Day or the science events on Twitter — though it did tweet its support for tax reform on Sunday.
PhRMA’s biotech counterpart BIO tweeted about both.
With or without Big Pharma, the global grassroots movement appears to have been an overwhelming success — minus a few hiccups along the way.
#MarchforScience turned out kind of like the Women's March. There were problems & factions but in the end it was still a powerful statement.
— Jenny Splitter (@jennysplitter) April 23, 2017
With its conclusion, organizers are now turning their attention to a so-called “Week of Action,” starting Sunday, April 23. Each of the seven days will have a theme designed to capitalize on the current momentum. Monday is about science discovery and uses the hashtag #KIDSCIENTISTS.
For Atul Butte, head of the University of California, San Francisco’s Institute for Computational Health Sciences, the call to action was for scientists to think beyond the bench. He shared some thoughts on the wider experience via email.
“The March for Science was incredibly energizing on Saturday in San Francisco, with tens of thousands participating in the march, and thousands near the stage during our presentations. My own speech was focused on my belief that “science is an untapped opportunity.” I encouraged my fellow scientists to make sure their discoveries and methods are better understood by the public. Part of this is to make sure the public is educated enough to appreciate science, and to sort out fake from real. But I am also encouraging my fellow scientists to go beyond their publications, to take their discoveries and inventions even more directly to those that may benefit, for instance, by starting companies that create jobs and can make those discoveries into products to benefit all.”
Photo: anilakkus, Getty Images
