Hoover Institution (Stanford, CA) — Drew Endy, a Hoover science fellow and senior fellow and Martin Family University Fellow in Undergraduate Education (Bioengineering) at Stanford University, convened nearly two dozen Hoover and Stanford experts, policymakers, and business leaders earlier this month—including Sec. Condoleezza Rice—to speak with Congressional staff on biotechnology issues.
Twenty legislative staffers from the Senate, the House of Representatives, and associated groups participated in the inaugural Bio-Strategies and Leadership Congressional Fellowship Program on October 2-3, at Stanford University. Committees and offices represented include the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, House Committee on Ways and Means, House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, and the Congressional Research Service, among others.
For this meeting, Endy said he was attempting to “bring nerd land into policy land.” He argued for the critical importance of the U.S. and our allies understanding biology as a strategic domain and acting accordingly, especially as China continues to prioritize biotechnology innovation.
Key topics covered on the first day included the bioeconomy, biosecurity, and current synthetic biology research. Participants heard from experts in their fields including Stephen Kotkin, Kevin Warsh, Rob Carlson, Rear Admiral Ken Bernard, Steve Luby, Jassi Pannu, Michael Fischbach, Emily Clise Tully, and Mike Kuiken. Attendees also toured five synthetic biology laboratories on the Stanford campus. In the evening, they heard from the current Vice Chair of the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology, Michelle Rozo for a discussion on the government’s role in biotechnology. Later, Martin Peter Giles and Emily Leproust, Christina Smolke, and Sophia Wang spoke about commercial applications of emerging biotechnologies and opportunities and challenges in the industry.
The following day saw congressional staff meet with Doug Friedman, Russ Altman, Raphael Townshend, Brian Hie, John Cumbers, Niko McCarty, Rick Johnson, Tino Cuéllar, and Ahmed Best for discussions on public-private partnerships, the intersection of AI and biotechnology, China’s biotechnology industry, the importance of a global strategy for biotechnology, and the vital importance of storytelling across disciplines. Attendees also heard from Hoover Institution Director Condoleezza Rice on the intersection of biotechnology, democracy, and national security.
For more information about Bio-Strategies and Leadership at Hoover, please contact Sarah Moront at smoront@stanford.edu.
The gathering was part of a recurring Congressional Fellowship program organized by Hoover’s Government and Media Relations office to provide congressional staff the widest and most current perspectives as they contend with various legislative challenges.
For more information about Hoover’s Congressional Fellowship Program, please email hooverdc@stanford.edu.
