Who is Aarti Prabhakar, US President Joe Biden's new science advisor

Another Indian-origin has become successful in securing a place in the Joe Biden administration. In a big move, United States President Joe Biden will nominate Indian-origin physicist Aarti Prabhakar as his scientific advisor this week. Aarti Prabhakar is expected to be named as the director of the White House Office of Science and Technology (OSTP).

The 63-year-old Aarti Prabhakar will replace Eric Lander, who resigned in February 7 on grounds of bullying his staff and creating a hostile work environment. Aarti Prabhakar will need Senate approval to become White House Office of Science and Technology Director. The process may take months. 

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However, she can immediately take the position of science advisor to the US President. Her responsibilities as science advisor include addressing problematic science policy issues, such as how best to position the United States to compete with China.

Meet Aarti Prabhakar, the new science advisor

Born on February 2, 1959 in New Delhi, Aarti Prabhakar's childhood and early education happened in Texas.  After earning her PhD from the California Institute of Technology in 1984, she went to work for the federal government.

The applied physicist was first appointed as the head of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) by the Bill Clinton administration in 1993. After completing her term, Aarti Prabhakar moved to the West Coast and spent close to two decades in Silicon Valley as a venture capitalist.

Later, former US President Barack Obama selected Aarti Prabhakar to head the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). She served as the head of the United States Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) from July 30, 2012 to January 20, 2017. 

Prabhakar is the founder and CEO of Actuate, a non-profit organisation. She headed the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) from 1993 to 1997 and was the first woman to head the NIS. If she manages to secure Senate approval, Aarti Prabhakar will become the first woman and black person to head the White House Office of Science and Technology (OSTP).

What will be her job profile?

The main job of a science advisor is to help fulfill the US President's agenda for science. Joe Biden mentioned his agenda for science in a letter written on January 15, 2021. The letter described a five-point plan in which President Biden asked Eric Lander to list lessons from the pandemic to improve public health and research to tackle climate change.

Biden also asked to ensure that the country remains a global leader in emerging high-tech areas such as artificial intelligence. Simultaneously, President Joe Biden seeks to reduce inequality within the quantum information science research community.

Aarti Prabhakar's intimate knowledge of DARPA will help the Biden administration in the new Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) and the new Technology Directorate at the National Science Foundation (NSF).