Michael Stebbins facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Michael Stebbins
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| Education | State University of New York, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (PhD) |
| Known for | Proposing the creation of ARPA-H, authoring 8 executive Actions for President Obama. |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Genetics, Public Policy |
| Institutions | The White House |
Michael Stebbins is an American geneticist. He is a scientist who has worked in important roles in the United States government. He also worked for a foundation that helps science and technology.
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Learning and Science Background
Michael Stebbins studied biology at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He earned his Ph.D. in genetics while working at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory.
During his studies, he created special systems. These systems helped control how genes work in animal brains. This research helped scientists study how animals form long-term memories.
Today, this system is used in a cool way. It helps create sterile male mosquitoes. This helps control diseases like dengue fever that mosquitoes can spread. Michael Stebbins also made the first special antibody against something called luciferase. This antibody is now sold worldwide for science research.
Working for Science and People
Michael Stebbins has worked in many important roles. He helps make sure science is used well in government and for public good.
He was part of a group called the National Academies of Science. This group looks at how research data is used and shared. He also helps a group called the Value in Cancer Care Consortium. This group works to make cancer treatments easier to get and more affordable.
He also leads the board for Vivli. This group helps share information from clinical research studies. Sharing this data helps scientists learn faster and develop new treatments.
Science and Government
Michael Stebbins helped start and was on the board of Scientists and Engineers for America (SEA). This group works to make sure that government decisions are based on good science.
He was also the Director of Biology Policy for the Federation of American Scientists (FAS). In this role, he worked on how to control biological weapons. He also helped prepare for possible attacks using biological, nuclear, or chemical weapons. He focused on using science and technology responsibly.
In 2008, Michael Stebbins joined the team for President Obama's transition. He helped with the Office of Science Technology and Policy. This office helps the President with science and technology issues.
At the White House
When he worked at the White House, Michael Stebbins led many science projects. He helped with efforts to improve mental health for veterans. He also worked on fighting antibiotic resistance. This is when germs become too strong for medicines.
He also worked to make scientific research results more open to everyone. He helped with projects to keep pollinators healthy. Pollinators are animals like bees that help plants grow. He also worked to make rules for biotechnology products better.
New Ideas for Health Research
After his time at the White House, Dr. Stebbins worked for the Laura and John Arnold Foundation. He helped set up their office in Washington D.C. He also helped the foundation decide where to invest in science and technology.
In 2020, Michael Stebbins helped write a very important idea. He suggested creating a new government agency for health research. This agency would be like DARPA, which develops new technologies for defense. But this new agency would focus on health.
This idea was adopted by President Biden's campaign. It became the plan for creating the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H). ARPA-H aims to speed up breakthroughs in health and medicine.
Other Important Work
Before working at the White House, Stebbins was a fellow for U. S. Senator Harry Reid. He worked on efforts to allow federal funding for research on embryonic stem cells. He also created a plan to help people with disabilities.
He also worked as a policy fellow for the National Human Genome Research Institute. This institute studies human genes. He was also a senior editor for the science journal Nature Genetics. He worked as a science journalist for Reuters. He has written for Seed Magazine and advises a company called ScienCentral. This company makes science news stories for TV.
