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The Scientist: NewsBlog:
Varmus, Lubchenco top Obama team
[Entry posted at 22nd December 2008 03:32 PM GMT]
| U.S. President-elect Barack Obama named more scientists to top posts over the weekend: Harold Varmus and Eric Lander will serve as co-chairs of the president's Council of Advisers on Science and Technology, headed up by Harvard physicist John Holdren.
Jane Lubchenco, a marine biologist and former head of the AAAS, will also lead the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
These scientists are no strangers to our pages: Two years ago, Varmus, president of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, penned an opinion article urging scientists to spend time in a lab in a developing country, in order to build a "global science corps. " And in our upcoming January issue, he writes about his tenure as head of the National Institutes of Health under Bill Clinton (available in the new year).
Lubchenco has contributed to numerous stories over the years, such as about the importance of protected marine parks, and the scientific shortcomings of outgoing president George W. Bush (hint: there were many, she said).
You can also review comments MIT's Eric Lander made on the five-year-anniversary of the Human Genome Project, and marvel at how in 2005, as the principal investigator on the biggest NIH grant, Lander received nearly seven times more funding than the total amount given to all institutions in the state of Wyoming the year before.
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A pitch for Keith Yamamoto as NIH Director? by anonymous poster
[Comment posted 2008-12-22 12:43:07]
Barack Obama, true to his promises, has assembled the best minds to lead our country (and its scientific research) to its fullest potential. This is true pragmatism in action and the choice of Drs, Varmus, Lubchenco and Lander is certainly very encouraging.
The choice of the next NIH Director would be critical in the present economic meltdown. I am sure that the presendtial advisors would make an intelligent choice, but I would like to suggest Dr. Keith Yamamoto (UCSF) as one possibility. I cannot think of anyone else, who might have done more behind-the-scene work to better manage the NIH. He is a great scientist, thinker and an experienced manager. Moreover, his in-depth knowledge of the NIH management would not require a lag time (on-job training). I am not sure if the NIH directorship requires an M.D.; if this is so, perhaps some amendments can be made.
Sincerely,
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