WASHINGTON — Eric Lander, the top science adviser to President Joe Biden, resigned Monday after the public revelation that he had mistreated members of his staff and violated the White House’s safe workplace policies.
“The president accepted Dr. Eric Lander’s resignation letter this evening with gratitude for his work at OSTP on the pandemic, the Cancer Moonshot, climate change, and other key priorities,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in a statement, referring to the Office of Science and Technology Policy. “He knows that Dr. Lander will continue to make important contributions to the scientific community in the years ahead.”
In his resignation letter, Lander said he was “devastated that I caused hurt to past and present colleagues” and did not believe he could continue effectively in his role.
A White House investigation into Lander — the first presidential science adviser to hold a cabinet-level position — found credible evidence he had bullied and spoken harshly to members of his staff. The White House said senior officials had met with him to discuss his behavior, and had he continued within the administration, he would be subject to “corrective actions.”
Yet in allowing Lander to remain on staff, the White House risked violating Biden’s pledge — made in the early days of the administration — that he would fire “on the spot” any staffer who treated others with disrespect.
The White House investigation into Lander’s behavior was first reported by Politico.
Lander, known for his work mapping the human genome, was overseeing two of the president’s signature programs: an effort to dramatically slash deaths from cancer and a bid to create an advanced research agency focused on medical breakthroughs.
In his resignation letter, Lander said he had pushed OSTP members to reach shared goals.
“But it is clear that things I said, and the way I said them, crossed the lines at times into being disrespectful and demeaning, both to men and women,” he said. “That was never my intention.”
Lander had been scheduled to testify Tuesday before the House Energy and Commerce Committee about Biden’s proposed research agency, which would be modeled on Darpa, the advanced research arm of the Defense Department. Representative Anna Eshoo, chairwoman of the health subcommittee, said earlier Monday that the White House had informed her Lander would not be testifying.
The American Association for the Advancement of Science, the world’s largest scientific society, also announced Monday it was dropping Lander from its annual conference.
“Unfortunately, toxic behavioral issues still make their way into the STEM community where they stifle participation and innovation. OSTP should be a model for a respectful and positive workplace for the scientific community — not one that further exacerbates these issues,” said a joint statement from the association’s Chief Executive Officer Sudip Parikh, Chair of the Board Claire Fraser, President Susan Amara, and President-elect Gilda Barabino.
