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Global Health Matters

July - August, 2007  |  Volume 6, Issue 4

 

Penn State Geneticist Appointed to Advise State Department

 

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has named geneticist and molecular biologist Dr. Nina V. Fedoroff to be her new science and technology adviser. Dr. Fedoroff is a professor at Pennsylvania State University, where she also served as the founding director of its Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences.

The position of Science and Technology Adviser to the Secretary (STAS) was created in 2000, to serve as the department's chief scientist and principal liaison with the national and international scientific and engineering communities. Dr. Fedoroff is the third person, and the first woman, to hold this position. The adviser is responsible for enhancing the science and technology literacy and capacity at the State Department, increasing the number of scientists and engineers working in Washington and missions abroad, strengthening and building bridges to the scientific and engineering communities, and providing advice on current and emerging science and technology issues as they impact foreign policy.

"We are looking forward to working closely with Dr. Fedoroff so that together we can extend our activities in training and research in global health to advance both discoveries in biomedical science and implementation of innovative public health programs abroad," said Fogarty Director Dr. Roger I. Glass. "U.S. investments in AIDS research through PEPFAR, malaria, and emerging infections demonstrate that good public health research and engagement in implementation can also be good diplomacy."

A leading geneticist and molecular biologist, Dr. Fedoroff has contributed to the development of modern techniques used to study and modify plants. She received her Ph.D. in molecular biology from the Rockefeller University in 1972. In 1978, she became a staff member at the Carnegie Institution of Washington and a faculty member in the biology department at Johns Hopkins University. She joined Penn State in 1995.

Dr. Fedoroff is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the European Academy of Arts and Sciences. She has served on the National Science Board of the National Science Foundation. Dr. Fedoroff is a 2006 National Medal of Science laureate.