In January 2021, when President Biden tapped Eric Lander to serve as the White House science adviser — and elevated the job to a cabinet-level position for the first time in history — he charged the renowned genomics researcher with “reinvigorating” American science. That included relaunching the “Cancer Moonshot” and creating a new federal agency aimed at accelerating biomedical breakthroughs.
But any momentum Lander generated stalled just over a year later, when he resigned from that position and his role leading the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy over accusations of workplace bullying.