COVID-19 Advisory Board
The COVID-19 Advisory Board was announced in November 2020 by President-elect of the United States Joe Biden as part of his presidential transition. It was co-chaired by physicians David A. Kessler, Marcella Nunez-Smith, and Vivek Murthy and comprises 13 health experts. The board was then succeeded by the White House COVID-19 Response Team upon Biden's presidency in January 2021.
Transition logo for the President-elect of the United States Joe Biden | |
Agency overview | |
---|---|
Formed | November 2020 |
Dissolved | January 20, 2021[1][2] |
Superseding agency | |
Type | Advisory board |
Jurisdiction | United States |
Agency executives |
|
Website | buildbackbetter |
Background
Before naming any White House staff or cabinet appointments, Biden announced that he will appoint a COVID-19 task force, co-chaired by former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, former Food and Drug Administration Commissioner David Kessler and Yale University epidemiologist Professor Marcella Nunez-Smith.[3][4] In November 2020, he announced the names of 13 health experts to serve on the COVID-19 Advisory Board.[5] Biden pledged a more and larger federal government response to the pandemic than Donald Trump, akin to President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal during the Great Depression.[6] This would include increased testing for SARS-CoV-2, a steady supply of personal protective equipment, distributing a vaccine and securing money from Congress for schools and hospitals under the aegis of a national "supply chain commander" who would coordinate the logistics of manufacturing and distributing protective gear and test kits. This would be distributed by a "Pandemic Testing Board", also similar to Roosevelt's War Production Board during World War II.[6] Biden also pledged to invoke the Defense Production Act more aggressively than Trump in order to build up supplies, as well as the mobilization of up to 100,000 Americans for a "public health jobs corps" of contact tracers to help track and prevent outbreaks.[6]
Jeffrey Zients will work with the advisory board as the incoming White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator (czar).[7][8] Civil servant and political advisor, Natalie Quillian, will serve as Deputy Coronavirus Response Coordinator.[9]
Succession
The board was dissolved on January 20, 2021, after President Biden was sworn in.[1][2] The reason for the dissolution is unknown. The board was then succeeded by the White House COVID-19 Response Team upon Biden's presidency.
Members
There were 16 members of the COVID-19 advisory board, appointed by President of the United States Joe Biden. Three of the members, David A. Kessler, Vivek Murthy and Marcella Nunez-Smith, served as co-chairs.
Member | Role | Education | Appointment | |
---|---|---|---|---|
David A. Kessler | Former Commissioner of Food and Drugs Co-chair |
Amherst College (BA) University of Chicago (JD) Harvard University (MD) |
November 9, 2020[10] | |
Marcella Nunez-Smith | Yale School of Medicine associate dean for health equity research Co-chair |
Swarthmore College (BA) Thomas Jefferson University (MD) |
November 9, 2020[10] | |
Vivek Murthy | Former Surgeon General of the United States Co-chair |
Harvard University (BA) Yale University (MD, MBA) |
November 9, 2020[10] | |
Luciana Borio | Former Acting Chief Scientist of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration | George Washington University (MD) | November 9, 2020[10] | |
Rick Bright | Former Director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority | University of Kansas Auburn University, Montgomery (BS) Emory University (MS, PhD) |
November 9, 2020[10] | |
Ezekiel Emanuel | Former Chief of the Department of Bioethics at the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center | Amherst College (BA) Exeter College, Oxford (MS) Harvard University (MD, PhD) |
November 9, 2020[10] | |
Atul Gawande | Brigham and Women's Hospital professor of surgery | Stanford University (BA, BS) Balliol College, Oxford (MA) Harvard University (MD, MPH) |
November 9, 2020[10] | |
Céline Gounder | New York University School of Medicine assistant professor | Princeton University (BA) Johns Hopkins University (MS) University of Washington, Seattle (MD) |
November 9, 2020[10] | |
Julie Morita | Executive Vice President of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation | University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign (BS) University of Illinois College of Medicine (MD) |
November 9, 2020[10] | |
Michael Osterholm | Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy | Luther College (BA) University of Minnesota (MS, MPH, PhD) |
November 9, 2020[10] | |
Loyce Pace | Executive Director and President of the Global Health Council | Stanford University (BS) Johns Hopkins University (MPH) |
November 9, 2020[10] | |
Robert Rodriguez | UCSF School of Medicine emergency medicine professor | University of Notre Dame (BA) Harvard University (MD) |
November 9, 2020[10] | |
Eric Goosby | Former United States Global AIDS Coordinator | Princeton University (BA) University of California, San Francisco (MD) |
November 9, 2020[10] | |
Jane Hopkins | Nurse at Harborview Medical Center and Snoqualmie Hospital | November 28, 2020 [11][12] | ||
Jill Jim | Executive director of the Navajo Department of Health | University of Utah (MPH, PhD) | November 28, 2020 [13] | |
David Michaels | Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health at the Milken Institute School of Public Health | Columbia University (MPH, PhD) | November 28, 2020 [11] |
See also
- Presidency of Joe Biden
- White House Coronavirus Task Force
References
- Facher, Lev (January 20, 2021). "Biden dissolves Covid-19 panel that advised his transition". STAT. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
- Pettypiece, Shannon (January 20, 2021). "Biden's Covid advisory board disbanded". NBC News. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
- Feuer, Will (November 7, 2020). "President-elect Joe Biden to announce Covid task force on Monday". CNBC. Archived from the original on November 7, 2020. Retrieved November 8, 2020.
- Mercia, Dan; Zeleny, Jeff (November 7, 2020). "Biden to announce coronavirus task force as part of presidential transition". CNN. Archived from the original on November 8, 2020. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
- Neuman, Scott (November 9, 2020). "Biden Names 13 Health Experts To COVID-19 Transition Advisory Board". NPR.org. Archived from the original on November 9, 2020. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
- Goodnough, Abby; Stolberg, Sheryl Gay (October 15, 2020). "Biden's Covid Response Plan Draws From F.D.R.'s New Deal". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 5, 2020. Retrieved November 7, 2020.
- MJ Lee and Kate Sullivan. "Jeffrey Zients is expected to be named Biden's coronavirus coordinator". CNN. Archived from the original on December 8, 2020. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
- "Zients, Murthy tapped to head up Biden's Covid-19 response". POLITICO. Archived from the original on December 3, 2020. Retrieved December 3, 2020.
- "President-elect Joe Biden Announces Key Members of Health Team". Insider NJ. December 7, 2020. Archived from the original on December 8, 2020. Retrieved December 8, 2020.
- "Biden transition team unveils members of Covid-19 task force". STAT. November 9, 2020. Archived from the original on November 10, 2020. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
- Landers, Jamie. "Navajo Nation's Jill Jim named to President-elect Joe Biden's COVID-19 Advisory Board". The Arizona Republic. Archived from the original on December 8, 2020. Retrieved November 29, 2020.
- Bunin, Steve (December 3, 2020). "Meet the Seattle nurse appointed to Biden's COVID-19 advisory board". King5. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
- Landers, Jamie (November 28, 2020). "Navajo Nation's Jill Jim named to President-elect Joe Biden's COVID-19 Advisory Board". The Arizona Republic. Archived from the original on December 8, 2020. Retrieved November 29, 2020.