Renee Wegrzyn Tapped to Head ARPA-H

As the new agency’s director, the DARPA veteran will spearhead a high-risk, high-reward approach to biomedical research.

Written byAndy Carstens

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Renee Wegryzn

Image credit:Ginkgo Bioworks

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President Joe Biden will appoint Renee Wegrzyn as the first director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, a new agency intended to accelerate the pace of biomedical research, according to a statement issued by the White House today (September 12). Wegrzyn, who currently works at the biotechnology company Ginkgo Bioworks, is a biologist who was previously a program manager in the Biological Technologies Office of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and has served on several scientific advisory boards for the National Academies of Science, the statement goes on to say.

“I am deeply honored to have the opportunity to shape ARPA-H’s ambitious mission and foster a vision and approach that will improve health outcomes for the American people, including President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot,” says Wegrzyn in a statement issued by Ginkgo Bioworks.

The new agency will support a broad range of programs aimed at preventing, detecting, ...

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Andy Carstens
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Andy Carstens is a freelance science journalist who is a current contributor and past intern at The Scientist. He has a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a master’s in science writing from Johns Hopkins University. Andy’s work has previously appeared in Audubon, Slate, Them, and Aidsmap. View his full portfolio at www.andycarstens.com.
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