President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr. announced on Friday that he will elevate the role of science in his office as part of an effort to “update and reinvigorate our national science and technology strategy”.
Mr. Biden will appoint Eric S. Lander, director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, to serve as director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and will also appoint him to serve as a presidential scientific adviser. For the first time, the position will be raised to the level of the cabinet.
The appointments signal a drastic change in the role of science in the Trump administration. President Trump left the post of empty scientific adviser for 18 months, while his government used to ignore the guidance of government scientists on issues such as the coronavirus pandemic, chemical pollution and climate change.
Biden has made other appointments to the White House that may elevate the importance of science in decision-making, such as appointing John Kerry, the former secretary of state and Democratic senator, a special presidential envoy for climate change, and creating a new White Office of the Climate Policy Chamber led by Gina McCarthy, who served as administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under President Barack Obama.
“Eric Lander is a true Renaissance scientist in his broad understanding of the many fields of science and their interrelationships,” said Marcia McNutt, president of the National Academy of Sciences. “At a time when the nation and the world face complex challenges that will require harnessing the full power of physical, biological, environmental, social, biomedical and engineering sciences, Eric is an inspired choice by a scientist of international stature to ensure that good political science guides. “
In Friday’s announcement, Mr. Biden also announced that Alondra Nelson, a professor at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Princeton, NJ, and chairman of the Social Sciences Research Council in Washington, DC, will serve as deputy director of the Office of Science and technology policy.
Frances H. Arnold and Maria Zuber will serve as external co-chairs of the President’s Council of Science and Technology Consultants, a council of prominent volunteer experts from outside the federal government. Dr. Arnold, a protein scientist at Caltech, won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2018, just the fifth woman to do so. Dr. Zuber, vice president of research at MIT, was the first woman to lead a NASA spacecraft mission.
“Science will always be at the forefront of my administration – and these world-renowned scientists will ensure that everything we do is based on science, facts and truth,” said Biden in his announcement. “Your reliable guidance will be essential when we come together to end this pandemic, bring our economy back and seek new advances to improve the quality of life for all Americans. Their insights will help America shape a better future, and I am grateful that they will respond to the call to serve. “
In 2018, Mr. Trump appointed Kelvin Droegemeier, then vice president of research at the University of Oklahoma, as its director for the Office of Science and Technology Policy. Although Dr. Droegemeier is widely respected for his climate research, many scientists felt that he was unable to convince Trump to support significant improvements in American science.
“I give him an A for effort and an F for performance,” a science policy expert on Dr. Droegemeier told Science Magazine in October.
Although he was discreet during his two years at the White House, Dr. Droegemeier made headlines in January. He expelled two team members after they published climate denial brochures bearing the White House logo.
Mr. Trump left the President’s Council of Science and Technology Consultants idle for 33 months. When he reconstituted him in 2019, only one of his nominees was an academic scientist, with representatives from private industry filling the board.
Dr. Lander, appointed scientific advisor, is best known as one of the leaders of the Human Genome Project. With a doctorate in mathematics, he created elegant methods for filtering genetic data to map genes and discover their roles and roles in disease.
Dr. Lander established the Broad Institute, which has become an important research center in genome sequencing. Extensive researchers have also done some of the pioneering work on CRISPR, the technology for DNA editing. Dr. Lander previously served as co-chair of Obama’s science advisory board.
“Our country is at the most important moment for science and technology since World War II,” Lander said in a Broad Institute press release. “The way we respond will shape our future for the rest of this century. President-elect Biden understands the central role of science and technology and I am deeply honored to have the chance to serve the nation. “
In a letter to Dr. Lander that Biden released on Friday, President-elect recalled how President Franklin Delano Roosevelt asked his scientific adviser, Vannevar Bush, a series of questions about how science could benefit the United States. Mr. Biden raised his own doubts with Dr. Lander about how to improve public health, climate change, technology and ensure that the benefits of science are fully shared by all Americans.
“I look forward to receiving your recommendations – and to working with you, your team and the scientific community at large to turn them into solutions that lighten the daily burdens for the American people, generate new jobs and opportunities and restore American leadership in the world. internship, ”wrote Biden.
Mr. Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will present Dr. Lander, Dr. Nelson, Dr. Arnold and Dr. Zuber at a live event at 1:30 pm Eastern time on Saturday in Wilmington, Del.