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"Did you do enough at the Broad to address gender gaps in STEM roles?"
@SenDuckworth to Eric Lander at his hearing this am for @WHOSTP Director and science adviser to the US president https://www.commerce.senate.gov/2021/4/nomination-hearing/cfae127c-0c1f-4e0d-8492-32ba7671c3c9
@SenDuckworth to Eric Lander at his hearing this am for @WHOSTP Director and science adviser to the US president https://www.commerce.senate.gov/2021/4/nomination-hearing/cfae127c-0c1f-4e0d-8492-32ba7671c3c9
Replying to the Senator's q, Lander says he will prioritize STEM diversity, starting with convening groups who promote women in science and people from under-repped groups. Mentions OSTP's ability to spotlight this across science agencies.
Lander mentions his meetings with Jeffrey Epstein which @paldhous has described https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/peteraldhous/jeffrey-epstein-science-donations-apologies-statements Lander says he met Epstein only twice in 2012 and did not receive $ from Epstein or his organizations
Lander says he was not aware of Epstein's "sordid history." "My heart goes out to his victims."
Next questions: About scientific integrity within the federal govt and preparing for the next pandemic. Both are priorities that President Biden has stated -- Lander will be key to putting the pieces in place
If confirmed the Lander will be the first cabinet-level science adviser. Here's what that could mean https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/29/science/biden-science-adviser-eric-lander.html
Next q to Lander: Is @NIH the best place for ARPA-H? This is a question that experts have raised about Biden's proposed new $6.5B agency https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/04/biden-wants-65-billion-new-health-agency-speed-treatments
Lander agrees NIH is the best place for a DARPA-like entity with big goals that intended to dodge market forces in biomedical pursuits.
"If you had to set up a different thing, there would be duplication and competition."
"If you had to set up a different thing, there would be duplication and competition."
"We need to pull together across agencies, we need to pull together across countries" Lander says what needs to be mobilized to respond to this pandemic, and those beyond. He points to the UK as a partner
Think the next q for Lander echoes one on the mind of many US scientists and science/health leaders: "How do you plan to use your role to ensure that science and research and development are not just in the room, but are central to solving our most challenging problems?"
Sen Rosen asks how Lander would restore trust and scientific integrity. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02800-9
Lander says OSTP wd "listen deeply". "I think listening to people about their concerns, letting them express them inviting them in, is so important to rebuilding trust."
Lander says OSTP wd "listen deeply". "I think listening to people about their concerns, letting them express them inviting them in, is so important to rebuilding trust."
Sen Sullivan asks why Operation Warp Speed doesn't get more credit from the Biden administration. The vaccines have been a success.
Lander replies that mRNA vaccines were "10 years in the making" and a result of coronavirus research investment spanning years.
Lander replies that mRNA vaccines were "10 years in the making" and a result of coronavirus research investment spanning years.
"in the process you may have marginalized and trivialized the contributions of two scientists." Another observation about Lander's controversial Cell item on CRISPR from Sen Lummis https://www.cell.com/cell/pdf/S0092-8674(15)01705-5.pdf
Lander acknowledges he "understated the importance of key advances" from Doudna and Charpentier and apologizes for the item: "I felt terrible about it. I made a mistake."
A whole slew of questions for Lander on his backing for research that has drawn attention and opposition from pro-life groups: germline gene editing, the 14-day rule, human-animal chimeras, and fetal tissue research
And one more on competing with China: Should the US up its federal science spending to compete?
Lander says: "I do not think we can respond by acting like China. We have to act like America." Also: How much US govt spending wd mean catch up? But Lander runs out of time.
Lander says: "I do not think we can respond by acting like China. We have to act like America." Also: How much US govt spending wd mean catch up? But Lander runs out of time.
aand that's a wrap. funding US science is a weird and messy business. deploying the results of that research in the middle of a health disaster is complex, vital, precarious - leans on elected officials and science leaders. if confirmed Lander wd be one key cog in a big machine
thanks for following 
