https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/biden-names-top-geneticist-eric-lander-as-science-adviser/

US president-elect Joe Biden has chosen decorated geneticist Eric Lander as presidential science adviser and director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). In what would be a first for this position, if Lander is confirmed by the US Senate, he will serve as a member of Biden’s cabinet.

Many scientists have long called for the OSTP director to be raised to a cabinet-level position. “Having science elevated to its rightful place in the administration seems to me a very positive step,” says Harold Varmus, a professor at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York and former head of the National Institutes of Health. “I think it marks a very important moment in the history of science in the government.”