PHOTO: AMR ALFIKY/THE NEW YORK TIMES596 11 FEBRUARY 2022 • VOL 375 ISSUE 6581 science.org SCIENCEIN DEPTH
A
n axiom of politics is that the higher
you rise, the harder you can fall. This
week, Eric Lander, the first White
House science adviser to be elevated
to the president’s Cabinet, learned
that firsthand. Lander, a prominent
geneticist who has a close relationship with
President Joe Biden, resigned from his posi-
tion less than 1 day after a media report re-
vealed a workplace investigation had found
“credible evidence” Lander had bullied, dis-
respected, and demeaned members of his
staff at the White House Office of Science
and Technology Policy (OSTP).
“I am devastated that I caused hurt to
past and present colleagues by the way in
which I have spoken to them,” Lander wrote
in his 7 February resignation letter. “I have
sought to push myself and my colleagues to
reach our shared goals—including at times
challenging and criticizing. But it is clear
that things I said, and the way I said them,
crossed the line at times into being dis-
respectful and demeaning, to both men and
women.” Lander said he would stay until
18 February to allow a smooth transition.
There was little public indication that
Lander was under scrutiny until someone
leaked the results of the bullying inves-
tigation to Politico; even some of OSTP’s
roughly 140 staffers tell Science they were
caught by surprise. Research advocates,
however, have already begun to speculate
about who might replace Lander and what,
if anything, his departure will mean for a
host of Biden’s initiatives, including plans
to create a new biomedical research agency
and boost green energy and climate science.
Some observers aren’t surprised
Lander’s tenure imploded after less than
275 days. Although he is a brilliant scien-
tist—known for co-leading the public ef-
fort to sequence the human genome and
founding the Broad Institute of MIT and
Harvard, a genomics powerhouse—Lander
has a reputation for appearing egocentric,
abrasive, and insensitive. He also drew fire
for downplaying, in a 2016 Cell essay, the
role of two female scientists in develop-
ing the CRISPR gene-editing technology.
(Lander later apologized for the essay.)
Such issues led some to criticize Biden
for nominating him—and Lander’s man-
ner apparently led to his downfall. Accord-
ing to Politico and White House officials,
in September 2021, an OSTP attorney,
Rachel Wallace, filed a complaint against
Lander and “other OSTP leadership,” al-leging they had disparaged staff and de-
moted Wallace after she criticized such
behavior. A 2-month investigation con-
cluded that Wallace’s reassignment was
not improper and found no evidence of
gender-based discrimination. But in a re-
cording of a January White House meet-
ing given to Politico, officials described
Lander’s behavior as “very, very serious” vi-
olations of White House policies on creat-
ing a “safe and respectful workplace.” They
required “corrective” actions that included
trainings and having Lander meet with
staff, and pledged to review the matter in
30 to 45 days.
Three days before Politico ran its
7 February bombshell, Lander sent an email
apologizing for his behavior to OSTP staff.
But it was too little, too late. After the story
appeared, pressure grew on the adminis-
tration to act. At a televised White House
press conference, a reporter asked why
Biden had not removed Lander, given the
president’s pledge to fire any appointee
who disrespected colleagues, “on the spot,
no ifs, ands, or buts.” The science commit-
tee of the House of Representatives issued
a bipartisan request to review the inves-
tigation. AAAS (publisher of Science) dis-
invited Lander from speaking at its annualBy David Malakoff
SCIENCE POLICY
U.S. science adviser resigns after bullying charge
Eric Lander’s abrupt departure comes as Biden administration pushes research initiatives
IN DEPTH
Eric Lander speaks to the press in January 2021, shortly after being named White House science adviser by then–President-elect Joe Biden.