Dr. Sujeeta Bhatt, a postdoctoral researcher at Georgetown University Medical Center, was APA's presenter at the Coalition for National Science Funding Exhibit and Reception on Capitol Hill on June 21. Her presentation, titled "Catching Spies: Psychological Science and the fMRI," received a lot of attention as she discussed in lay terms how fMRI can address cognitive, social and behavioral issues such as detection of deception. The event, sponsored by the Coalition for National Science Funding, in which APA is very active, drew over 300 attendees to the Rayburn House Office Building, including a dozen Members of Congress. Many of them spoke with Sujeeta, including House Science Committee Chairman Sherry Boehlert (R-NY), Vern Ehlers (R-MI), Lois Capps (D-CA), Inglis (R-SC) and Dale Kildee (D-MI). She also had some prime time with the new head of NSF's Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Directorate, David Lightfoot, the former dean of the graduate school at Georgetown.

Psychological research was also well-represented by other exhibitors, including Sheena Iyengar (Columbia Business School) for the Federation of Behavioral, Cognitive and Psychological Sciences , Nancy Songer (Michigan State) for the American Educational Research Association, and Marcia Linn (Berkeley) for the University of California system. The latter two went through our advocacy training several years ago when it focused on learning research and science education.

Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-NY), Chairman of the House Science Committee, talks with APA exhibiter Sujeeta Bhatt at the 2005 CNSF Exhibition on June 21.