WASHINGTON – David Blumenthal, the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, has joined a new presidential advisory council on science and technology.
Blumenthal joined other key health reform leaders Thursday and Friday at the White House for the first meetings of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. PCAST is an advisory group of the nation's leading scientists and engineers, appointed by the president to augment the science and technology advice he receives from inside the White House and from cabinet departments and other federal agencies.
According to the White House, PCAST will offer insights and in many cases make policy recommendations on science, technology and innovation relevant to the policy choices facing the Obama administration. PCAST is administered by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP).
According to PCAST Co-Chairman John Holdren, assistant to the president for science and technology and director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, the group has "a spectacular cast of leaders of the science and technology community."
The 21 members include four winners of MacArthur "genius" awards, three Nobel laureates, two university presidents and 16 members of one or more of the U.S. national academies of science, engineering and medicine.
Along with Blumenthal, other council members include Aneesh Chopra, assistant to the president, associate director for technology and chief technology officer of the OSTP; and John Glaser, advisor to the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.
