Medicine: New Therapy Strengthens Fight Against Osteoporosis Neurology: Studies Find Caffeine May Counter Parkinson's Pathology: Programmed Death by Mitochondria Health Care Policy 1: Medicare May Restrict Good Care for Dying Patients Health Care Policy 2: In First Seidman Lecture, Keynote Predicts No Drug Benefit as Part of Medicare Workplace Exposure May Be Similar for Smokers, Nonsmokers Breast-feeding May Limit Teenage Obesity Some Medical Errors More Common With Children Than Adults Rod Cells Pay for Light Sensitivity With Reaction Time Faculty Council Proceedings Two from HMS Added to the National Academy of Sciences Roster A Preview of Alumni Week Center for Neurodegeneration and Repair Invites Applications for Grants, Fellowships NAS and AAAS Address Nationwide Postdoc Issues Call for Writers Front Page

FORUM NAS and AAAS Address Nationwide Postdoc Issues Eleven HMS representatives, including postdoctoral fellows and administrators, spent two days listening to groups from around the country describe their institutions' efforts to support postdoctoral fellows. A convocation on "Enhancing the Postdoctoral Experience for Scientists and Engineers" took place at the National Academy of Sciences on March 2 as a sequel to last year's meeting and subsequent book publication of the same title. The book was compiled by the NAS Committee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy (COSEPUP). The meeting, sponsored by COSEPUP, presented views from postdoctoral supervisors, postdoctoral fellows, administrators, and funding institutions, with panel discussions and breakout groups. They described a range of institutional experiences and offerings. Some institutions, for example, have well-funded postdoctoral offices with established policies, benefits, and programming while others have not yet determined the extent of their postdoc populations. Action Items The main COSEPUP-recommended action points include awarding institutional status and compensation commensurate with the postdocs' contributions to the institution's research effort; developing policies and standards similar to those for graduate programs; developing mechanisms for frequent, regular communication between postdocs and their advisers, institutions, funding organizations, and disciplinary societies; providing annual evaluations to postdocs; ensuring access to health insurance and institutional services, regardless of funding origin; setting limits for the postdoctoral training period; inviting postdocs to participate in defining the conditions for appointment; providing career guidance including data on employment prospects in research; and improving the transition to career positions. A major concern voiced by many groups was the means to implement these recommendations. HMS established a postdoctoral office early this year and has set up a preliminary council of postdoctoral fellows and faculty to begin to address some of these action points. Preliminary discussions also are in progress between the postdoctoral office and representatives of the major HMS-affiliated hospitals to address postdoctoral issues in the HMS community at large. Wave of Change? The second day of talks, at the Postdoc Network National Meeting supported by the American Association for the Advancement of Science through sponsorship by Science's career resource program Next Wave, focused on the efforts of postdoctoral associations to survey their populations. Issues of salary, benefits, child care, and career counseling generally ranked of highest concern. Despite the problems postdocs face, capturing and focusing their attention on potential solutions is a widespread challenge. Many fellows seem reluctant to voice their complaints or to work toward improving their situation. A resource for change might be postdoc associations that serve as gathering points for fellows, encouraging communication across departmental lines. HMS attendees at the Washington meetings, including this article's authors Dorothy Berkoben, staff assistant in the HMS postdoc office, and Roslyn Orkin, assistant dean for faculty affairs, hosted a panel discussion of their thoughts and impressions at an open meeting for Quad-based postdocs on April 26. Harvard has the largest number of postdoctoral fellows in the country, so whatever decisions are reached at HMS and elsewhere in the University will likely influence change on other campuses. —Dorothy Berkoben and Roslyn Orkin   Call for Writers Are you a student and a natural writer with few outlets for your creative mind and journalistic eye? Consider writing for Focus and WebWeekly. Several of our veteran columnists will be graduating this year so we're looking for MD and PhD students to fill their vacancies. The job requires producing three to six columns a year for the Forum section of Focus and Student Scene section of WebWeekly. Candidates must be skilled and motivated writers though do not have to be previously published. If interested, please contact editor Robert Neal, 432-0448 or e-mail rneal@hms.harvard.edu.