I
t has been a rough 2 weeks for the US science com-
munity. After 4 years of bludgeoning by the Trump
administration, hope resurged a year ago as a new
White House promised to value science. But there
have been missteps, the most recent taking place
on the heels of another blunder that many saw
coming. Eric Lander, who just stepped down as
President Biden’s science adviser and director of the
Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), was a
prominent research figure with a well-known record
of bullying and callous actions. With the notable ex-
ception of the 500 Women Scientists organization, the
scientific community was embarrassingly silent about
Lander’s nomination. Not surprisingly, he is out of the
White House because of the same behavioral issues. And
yet, in another tone deaf move, the
administration just named Francis
Collins, the recently retired director
of the National Institutes of Health
(NIH), as Lander’s interim replace-
ment as science adviser while ask-
ing Alondra Nelson, the OSTP’s
deputy director for science and
society and an experienced admin-
istrator and scholar, to temporar-
ily direct OSTP. Apparently, Biden
doesn’t think Nelson is capable of
doing both jobs. I disagree and am
not staying silent this time.
The decision to choose Collins
for the presidential adviser aspect
of the job may appear a strategic
move to advance Biden’s biomedi-
cal agenda, but the decision to keep Nelson out of this
role reflects a chronic ill in America—inequity at the
highest levels of leadership. Lander’s vacated position
and Nelson’s presence at OSTP already presented a
clear opportunity to put someone in the combined role
who represents the future of American science.
Certainly, Francis Collins has been a major science
policy figure in the US for many years. Through his
dogged determination and political skill, he pushed
the human genome project to completion and took the
helm of the NIH, serving three presidents. Through
his masterful abilities to engage with Congress, he
reliably secured increases in NIH funding year after
year. But the end of his tenure brought problems that
weren’t adequately resolved. He was unable to dis-
mantle an outdated grant assessment process that
reinforces a low funding rate for Black applicants.
And NIH caved to political pressure around the ChinaInitiative, which sought to satisfy the Trump admin-
istration’s anti-Asian tendencies by sending letters to
universities to disrupt legitimate scientific collabora-
tions with China.
At some point, the scientific community must stand
up against anti-Asian racism and injustice in the fund-
ing of Black scientists, among other discrimination
in the scientific enterprise. That time has to be now,
and what is needed is a new cadre of scientific leaders
in Washington, DC, who can build a scientific agenda
where inclusion of individuals who reflect the diverse
makeup, talents, and interests of society is prioritized.
Appointing someone as the nation’s science adviser—
even on a temporary basis—who has already enjoyed
the privilege of leading for many years sends a mes-
sage that the White House doesn’t
care, especially when so many new
and diverse leaders are available.
It’s hard not to conclude that the
administration has gotten what it
needs out of science and has lost
interest. Given the sluggish pace
with which science appointments
have been made by the administra-
tion, this latest arrangement may
last for some time.
Alondra Nelson is one of the
visionary leaders in American sci-
ence today. She was the first Black
professor to receive tenure in so-
ciology at Columbia University,
has held numerous challenging
administrative roles, and currently
occupies the Harold F. Linder Chair in the School of
Social Science at the Institute for Advanced Study.
When invited to join OSTP, Nelson stated that “as a
Black woman researcher, I’m keenly aware of who has
been missing from the room.” After 2 years of witness-
ing the scientific community succeed at developing
vaccines to combat the pandemic but fail at getting
full acceptance by the community, it’s clear that Nel-
son has the expertise that is gravely needed for all
of science.
It’s time for the scientific community to commit to
a vision of the future where young scientists can get
a fair share of funding, where equity for women and
people of color is prioritized over protecting processes
that reinforce injustices of the scientific enterprise,
and where leaders in Washington, DC, represent the
future, not the past.
–H. Holden ThorpBiden doesn’t get it
H. Holden Thorp
Editor-in-Chief,
Science journals.
[email protected];
@hholdenthorpPublished online 18 February 2022; 10.1126/science.abo
PHOTO: CAMERON DAVIDSON
SCIENCE science.org 4 MARCH 2022 • VOL 375 ISSUE 6584 939EDITORIAL
“Lander’s vacated
position and
Nelson’s presence
at OSTP already
presented a clear
opportunity...”