Michael Stebbins is an American geneticist and serves as Assistant Director for Biotechnology, Office of Science and Technology Policy, in the White House.
Education
He received his Bachelor of Surgery in biology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook, and his Doctor of Philosophy in genetics while working at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, where he constructed genetic systems to artificially control gene expression in the brain.
Career
Since August 2005, he has been the Director of Biology Policy for the Federation of American Scientists (Fetal alcohol syndrome), and runs Fetal alcohol syndrome"s Biosecurity Project. His work at Fetal alcohol syndrome focuses on control of biological weapons, preparedness for biological, nuclear, and chemical weapons attacks, and the responsible use of science and technology. Previously, Stebbins worked as a legislative fellow for United States Senator Harry Reid (Doctorate-Nevada) and as a policy fellow for the National Human Genome Research Institute.
He has also worked as a senior editor for the journal Nature Genetics, and as a science journalist for Reuters.
He has written for Seed Magazine, and is a science advisor to ScienCentral, a company that produces science-related news stories for American Broadcasting Company and National Broadcasting Company television affiliates. Stebbins is the author of the book Sex, Drugs and deoxyribonucleic acid: Science"s Taboos Confronted, and serves on the Board of Advisors of Scientists and Engineers for America (Southern Economic Association, USA), an organization focused on promoting sound science in government.
He is also a frequent contributor to This Week in Science, where he discusses issues relating to science and policy in his segment titled, The Weird from Washington.
Membership
On November 18, 2008, Stebbins was named a member of the Obama transition in the "Executive Office of the President Team," with responsibility for the Office of Science Technology and Policy.".