Meet Dr Arati Prabhakar — Indian-American nominated as Biden’s top science advisor

Jun 22, 2022 By: Vaamanaa Sethi Credit: Wikipedia

President Biden nominated Dr Prabhakar

American President Joe Biden has nominated Dr Arati Prabhakar as Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and his Chief Advisor for Science and Technology on Wednesday morning. Credit: Wikipedia

Prabhakar will be replacing Eric Lander who resigned in February...

...on grounds of creating an ill-disposed environment in the workplace. Credit: Wikipedia

First female immigrant to lead

If the Senate confirms, she would be the first female and immigrant to lead the OSTP. Credit: AFP

Overall third Asian to serve in Biden’s cabinet

She will also become the third Asian American to serve in Biden's cabinet after Vice President Kamala Harris and US Trade Representative Katherine Tai. Credit: Wikipedia

Dr Prabhkar also headed NIST

She was also the first woman to head the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Credit: NIST

From 2012 to 2017, she has also served as director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

Under her leadership, the DARPA started working on developing a rapid-response mRNA vaccine platform.

The platform also developed the COVID-19 vaccine during the pandemic. Credit: Wikipedia

Family Background

She was only three years old when her family shifted to America from India. Her family first arrived in Chicago and then moved to Lubbock in Texas when she was 10 years old. Credit: BCCL

Education background

She got her bachelor’s and master’s degree in electrical engineering from Texas University. She further pursued PhD in applied physics from the California Institute of Technology. Credit: TU

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