New Bioethics Chief Takes Helm at White House
US President Barack Obama's newly-appointed bioethics chief started work Monday, 9 April, marking a key leadership transition for a board that has already investigated numerous controversial clinical research topics related to regulatory affairs.
The panel, called The Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues, is a 13-member advisory commission that was formed in 2009.
The commission itself will still be led by Commission Chair Amy Gutmann, PhD, while Lisa Lee, formerly Chief Science Officer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, will be serving as Executive Director of all of the commission's staff activities.
The commission has tackled some controversial topics during its short reign, including the role of the federal government in conducting research on Guatemalan prisoners in the 1940's, synthetic biology and human research protections.
Lee will now lead the group's staff as it investigates privacy issues related to whole-genome sequencing, neuroethics and neuroimaging, and the development of medical countermeasures for children.
Read more:
Bioethics - New Executive Director Begins at President's Bioethics Commission
[Editor's note: This article was updated 12 April to clarify the different roles between Gutman and Lee.]