At the Dec. 16 noon meeting of the Rotary Club of Lawrenceville, Dr. Adrianne Edwards, a microbiologist researcher at Emory University and wife of Rotarian Brian Edwards, explained to the group what public tax dollars go toward in scientific academic research and why such support is important. Before talking about her own personal research at Emory, she sought to clarity why it is so important that tax dollars be dedicated to academic research projects. Such research is the primary resource for basic scientific discoveries in the United States. Lately federal budget cuts and sequestration have limited funding sources, reducing the number of scientists and projects approved by NIH, NSF, and federal departments. Only 17.6% of all submissions for study grants are currently approved. Public funding is important because private companies which focus on profits would never be able to support the type of long-term projects, collaborations, and experiments that lead to important health-improving discoveries. Dr. Edwards pointed out that “Academic research directly benefits public health and policy and provides the foundation for further research and drug development by private companies and industry.” Since academic research is open and available, it promotes sharing among scientists. She then described the work she does as a postdoctoral fellow in Shonna McBride’s lab in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Emory. Her research focuses on elucidating the genetic pathways that regulate spore formation in the gastrointestinal pathogen Clostridium difficile. This pathogen is a major health problem in hospitals, nursing homes, or wherever the spore exists.