Biden Selects Yale Professor Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith To Co-Chair COVID-19 Task Force

Since Democratic candidate Joe Biden emerged as the president-elect after the election, he has already announced plans of creating a new task force dedicated to containing and combatting the spread of COVID-19 or the novel coronavirus, pandemic. This week, the Biden-Harris campaign announced that Yale School of Medicine professor Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith will be co-chair of the new initiative.

Amid a surge of new cases spreading across the country, the Biden-Harris team announced the inclusive task force “will consult with state and local officials to determine the public health and economic steps necessary to get the virus under control, to deliver immediate relief to working families, to address ongoing racial and ethnic disparities, and to reopen our schools and businesses safely and effectively.”

“Dealing with the coronavirus pandemic is one of the most important battles our administration will face, and I will be informed by science and by experts,” said President-elect Biden in a press statement. “The advisory board will help shape my approach to managing the surge in reported infections; ensuring vaccines are safe, effective, and distributed efficiently, equitably, and free; and protecting at-risk populations.”

The noted health expert works as an associate professor of medicine and of epidemiology at the Connecticut Ivy League’s School of Medicine. The team will also include Dr. Ezekiel “Zeke” Emanuel, chair of the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy at the University of Pennsylvania, former Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy, and Dr. David Kessler, professor of pediatrics and epidemiology and biostatistics at University of California, San Francisco.

“Everyone is affected by this pandemic, yet the burden is disproportionate,” Dr. Nunez-Smith said in an interview with the Hartford Courant. “We know communities of color are grieving at high rates and are facing substantial economic impact. The transition advisory board is setting a course for everyone in our country to experience recovery.”