ICYMI: Arati Prabhakar Confirmed as OSTP Director

In September, the Senate confirmed President Biden’s nominee for Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), Arati Prabhakar, by a vote of 56-40. Prabhakar, who is a former Director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), had been nominated in June to take charge of the office that has been led in the interim by OSTP Deputy Director for Science and Society Alondra Nelson (see previous COSSA coverage). Prabhakar is also expected to assume the role of the President’s science adviser, which had been carried out by former Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Francis Collins in an acting capacity. In these roles, Prabhakar will be responsible for leading several new and continuing science policy issues including the building out of the new Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), the implementation of the recently passed CHIPS and Science Act, and ongoing initiatives related to diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in science.