Arthur Reingold (Public Health) and CSTMS affiliate Ann Keller (Public Health) have been awarded an NSF Science of Science and Innovation Policy grant to convene a Workshop for Advancing Science for Policy through Interdisciplinary Research in Regulation (ASPIRR) in fall 2016.

Scientific evidence is a critical consideration in the process of creating regulatory policies and laws that promote technological innovation while protecting against unintended adverse consequences. The conference will convene researchers from the social sciences, business and legal worlds, and government regulators to identify how scientific evidence can and should support government regulation and policymaking. The workshop will chart a research course that facilitates science based regulatory approaches to scientific innovation, respecting the importance of differing values within a pluralistic democratic society.

The one-day workshop focuses on the technical domains of nanoscale materials innovation and commercialization; innovation in healthcare, and; environmental regulation for both ecosystem integrity and human health. Topics considered include the regulation of emerging technologies; identifying authoritative science for policy and regulatory decisions, and; identifying the appropriate loci of regulatory enforcement in multi-level governance systems. The excepted outcome is to stimulate joint research in regulatory science and to coordinate efforts of scholars in diverse disciplines with practitioners and policymakers across the United States. Stay tuned for an announcement of event date and agenda.