Leaders of the Senate and House Armed Services Committees have unveiled the full list of members appointed to serve on an intergovernmental panel tasked with providing recommendations related to advances in emerging biotechnology.
Jason Kelly, co-founder and CEO of Boston, Massachusetts-headquartered biotechnology company Ginkgo Bioworks, and Michelle Rozo, former director for technology and national security on the National Security Council, were respectively named chair and vice chair of the National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology, the HASC said Friday.
The 12-member national security commission was established in the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2022 to review the impact of biotechnology and associated technologies on the Department of Defense’s current and future activities.
In addition to Kelly and Rozo, the appointed commissioners are:
- Paul Arcangeli, a former staff director for the HASC
- Rep. Stephanie Bice, R-Okla.
- Angela Belcher, head of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Department of Biological Engineering
- Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif.
- Dawn Meyerriecks, former deputy director of CIA for science and technology
- Sen. Jose Padilla, D-Calif.
- Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google and chairman of the Defense Innovation Board
- Alexander Titus, former assistant director for biotechnology at the Office of Under Secretary of Defense Research and Engineering
- Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind.
- Dov Zakheim, former undersecretary of defense and chief financial officer for the Department of Defense
The NDAA requires the commission to submit an interim report to Congress within one year of its establishment and provide final recommendations within two years.
