Sep 27, 2021
The session from the BioHealth
Capital Region Forum focuses on a vision for a new science entity,
the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H). This new
NIH Institute would accelerate biomedical innovation and adoption
of technologies and approaches to revolutionize healthcare and
medicine.
Tara A. Schwetz, Ph.D. is the Assistant Director for
Biomedical Science Initiatives in the White House Office of Science
and Technology Policy (OSTP). She is currently on detail to OSTP
from her role as Associate Deputy Director (ADEPD), National
Institutes of Health (NIH). During her tenure as ADEPD, Dr. Schwetz
also served as the acting Director of the National Institute of
Nursing Research (NINR). Prior to assuming these roles, she was the
Chief of the Strategic Planning and Evaluation Branch in the Office
of the Director at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
Diseases (NIAID). Dr. Schwetz led several efforts while at NIAID,
including conducting an evaluation of the Centers of Excellence for
Influenza Research and Surveillance to facilitate evidence-based
decision-making and developing the NIAID Strategic Plan for
Tuberculosis Research. Previously, Dr. Schwetz served as the Senior
Advisor to the Principal Deputy Director of NIH (DEPD), where she
coordinated efforts such as Reimagine HHS, the NIH rigor and
reproducibility activities, and the first NIH-Wide Strategic Plan.
Dr. Schwetz also served in the dual role of the NIH Environmental
influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO) Interim Associate
Program Director and the Special Assistant to the DEPD. Prior to
these roles, she was a Health Science Policy Analyst at the
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, where she
helped develop the National Pain Strategy. Dr. Schwetz started her
career at NIH as an AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow at
NINR. She received a BS in biochemistry with honors from Florida
State University and a PhD in biophysics from the University of
South Florida, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at Vanderbilt
University.