White House Science Advisor, Title IX, ARPA-H
BU IN DC
Doctoral students in the BU URBAN program met with Congressional staff, science policy experts, and leaders in nongovernmental organizations about science policymaking between June 14th and 16th.
Kevin Gallagher of the Global Development Policy Center hosted a discussion and reception with members of the Task Force on Climate, Development and the International Monetary Fund at the National Press Club on June 23rd
David Glick of the College of Arts & Sciences and Katharine Lusk of the Initiative on Cities briefed White House staffers on the findings of the Menino Survey of Mayors on June 21st.
Ryan Lovell of the Wheelock College of Education & Human Development attended the National Charter Schools Conference from June 19th through 23rd.
Ibram X. Kendi of the Center for Antiracist Research discussed his How to Raise an Antiracist book at an event hosted by Politics & Prose bookstore on June 15th.
BIDEN NOMINATES SCIENCE ADVISOR
On Tuesday, President Joe Biden announced he will nominate Dr. Arati Prabhakar as director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). Once confirmed by the U.S. Senate, Dr. Prabhakar will also serve in the President’s Cabinet as Chief Advisor for Science and Technology. Dr. Prabhakar is a physicist who previously led the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency during the Obama Administration and the National Institute of Standards and Technology during the Clinton Administration. She is the first woman, immigrant, or person of color nominated to serve as leader of OSTP. Prabhakar will replace Acting Science Advisor Dr. Francis Collins and Acting OSTP Director Dr. Alondra Nelson, who will remain as Deputy Director of OSTP. Collins and Nelson assumed their roles earlier this year after former OSTP Director Dr. Eric Lander resigned in the wake of a White House investigation that determined he bullied OSTP staff.
ADMINISTRATION PROPOSES NEW TITLE IX RULES
The U.S. Department of Education proposed a new set of rules yesterday for Title IX, the federal law that prohibits discrimination based on sex in educational settings. The proposal would reverse many Trump Administration policies governing how colleges adjudicate sexual misconduct, including eliminating a requirement that schools use live hearings and cross-examination to determine whether misconduct has occurred. The rule would also add a new federal prohibition against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in educational programs. After a 60-day comment period, the Biden Administration will review stakeholder input and issue a final rule with an implementation date.
HOUSE APPROVES ARPA-H BILL
On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Advanced Research Projects Agency – Health (ARPA-H) Act (H.R. 5585), a bill to guide the new federal agency created this spring to support high-risk, high-reward biomedical breakthroughs. The bill would separate the new agency from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), where it is currently housed, and make the director a Senate-confirmed, term-limited position. The Biden Administration opposes removing ARPA-H from the NIH, but nonetheless urged support for the House bill. A Senate committee approved its own ARPA-H legislation this spring as part of a pandemic preparedness bill, but its prospects for moving through the chamber are unclear.
Read the Biden Administration’s views
A NOTE TO OUR READERS…
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