President-elect Joe Biden on Saturday officially introduced members of his administration's Office of Science and Technology Policy, headlined by his nominee to lead the team, Eric Lander, who will serve as a presidential science adviser, a position Biden is elevating to be a member of the Cabinet for the first time. "In a way ... this is the most exciting announcement that I've gotten to make in the entire Cabinet, raising this to a Cabinet-level position in one case," Biden said.
Lander, who is considered a pioneer in the field of genomic science, is the president and founding director of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and was an adviser in the Obama administration. He said Biden "knows that science and technology will be crucial" in meeting a moment that presents both "opportunities" and "challenges" that "are greater than ever before," adding that "no nation is better equipped to lead the search for solutions."
Biden also introduced Alondra Nelson, his pick to be the OSTP deputy director for science and society. Nelson, the president of the Social Science Research Council and a Harold F. Linder Professor at the Institute for Advanced Study, spoke about how the social and scientific worlds often intersect, noting that "we have a responsibility to ... make sure that our science and technology reflects us." Read more about the rest of Biden's science nominees at CNN and CBS News. Tim O'Donnell
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