The National Academy of Sciences will hold its 158th Annual Meeting online this Saturday and Sunday, April 24 and 25.  The following events will be webcast live:

Saturday, April 24

11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. EDT — NAS President’s Address

NAS President Marcia McNutt will deliver her annual address to NAS members.

12:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. EDT — COVID-19 Symposium: Strategic Planning for Crises

Focusing on the COVID-19 pandemic, this symposium will feature four panels, “The Virus,” “Response to the Pandemic,” “Vaccines,” and “Response and Resilient Strategic Science Initiative.” (Introductory prerecorded videos are available here.) Participants will include:

• Lisa F.P. Ng, executive director of A*STAR Infectious Diseases Labs
• Nicole Lurie, strategic adviser, Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovation
• Jenny A. Durkan, mayor, City of Seattle
• Larry Corey, principal investigator, COVID-19 Prevention Network, and past president and director of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
• Janet Napolitano, professor of public policy, University of California, Berkeley; and former governor of Arizona and U.S. secretary of homeland security

Sunday, April 25

11:30 a.m. to noon EDT — Science and Policy: A View from Congress

Select members of Congress will discuss the role of science in policymaking with NAS President Marcia McNutt in prerecorded videos.

12:15 p.m. to 2 p.m. EDT — Science in the New Administration

The discussion will be moderated by Kei Koizumi, acting director and chief of staff, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and feature Sethuraman Panchanathan, director of the National Science Foundation; Francis S. Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health; Ellen R. Stofan, undersecretary for science and research at the Smithsonian Institution; and NAS President Marcia McNutt.

2:15 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. EDT — Rebuilding the Federal Science Workforce

Moderated by Alondra Nelson, deputy director for science and society at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), and Jane Lubchenco, OSTP’s deputy director for climate and environment, the discussion will feature:

• Marie Bernard, deputy director of the National Institute on Aging and chief officer for scientific workforce diversity for the National Institutes of Health
• Gretchen Goldman, research director for the Center for Science and Democracy, Union of Concerned Scientists
• Bruce Rodan, associate director for science, Office of Research and Development, and deputy assistant administrator for science, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
• Max Stier, president and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service

4 p.m. to 5 p.m. EDT — Awards Ceremony

This ceremony will honor 23 researchers and their major contributions to the physical, biological, and social sciences. The ceremony will begin with brief prerecorded remarks by Prince Albert II of Monaco to commemorate the centennial of an address by Prince Albert I at the 1921 NAS annual meeting. It will conclude with remarks by 2021 Public Welfare Medalist Anthony S. Fauci, chief medical adviser to President Biden and the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health. 

On Monday, April 26, new NAS members will be elected.  Election results will be available online by 3 p.m. EDT at www.nasonline.org. Reporters can register in advance to receive the list of new members via e-mail at news@nas.edu.

Follow the annual meeting on social media using the hashtag #NAS158

DETAILS:
The full program is available here.  To register for the webcasts, click the registration link, where details for viewing the webcasts will be posted in advance of the sessions. Registrants will also be sent updates by email. For more information, reporters may contact the Office of News and Public Information; tel. 202-334-2138 or e-mail news@nas.edu.