Biden turns to coronavirus response, names advisory board

BOSTON (AP) – President-elect Joe Biden has announced the members of his coronavirus task force, which will put together a blueprint for fighting the pandemic. Notable among the task force members is Rick Bright, a vaccine expert who had filed a whistleblower complaint alleging he was reassigned to a lesser job because he resisted political pressure to allow widespread use of hydroxychloroquine, a malaria drug pushed by President Donald Trump as a COVID-19 treatment. Other members include doctors and scientists who have served in previous administrations, including experts in public health, vaccines and infectious diseases. Biden says dealing with the pandemic is “one of the most important battles” his administration will face.

Here is the full list of task force members:

• David Kessler, co-chair, former FDA commissioner
• Marcella Nunez-Smith, co-chair, Yale associate dean for health equity research
• Vivek Murthy, co-chair, former surgeon general
• Luciana Borio, former assistant FDA commissioner
• Rick Bright, former BARDA director
• Zeke Emanuel, former Obama administration health policy adviser
• Atul Gawande, Brigham and Women’s hospital professor of surgery
• Celine Gounder, NYU Grossman School of Medicine assistant professor
• Dr. Julie Morita, former Chicago public health commissioner
• Michael Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota
• Loyce Pace, executive director of the Global Health Council
• Dr. Robert Rodriguez, UCSF emergency medicine professor
• Eric Goosby, former Ryan White Care Act director

By PHILIP MARCELO, Associated Press