Scientist is part of the committee of 13 experts formed by the US president-elect to combat coronavirus in the country

A Brazilian scientist has just been invited to join Joe Biden's advisory board for combating coronavirus and the effects of the pandemic in the United States. After being invited last week (9), Luciana Borio, who specializes in biodefense and graduated from George Washington University's School of Medicine and Health Sciences, joined 12 other scientists and public health experts on the task force that will manage the effects and consequences of Covid-19 in the country. And now, do you want to know why Luciana caught the eye of the US president-elect as someone important to make up this team? Read on and find out more about her career in science!

Scientist was once chief scientist at the FDA and began working for the US government during George W. Bush's presidency

Born in Rio de Janeiro, Luciana has lived in the US since the late 1980s and is well known for her intense work in the field of infectious diseases. Specializing in biodefense, she is senior researcher for global health at the US Council on Foreign Relations, has worked as interim chief scientist at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the country's health watchdog, and was also director of medical preparedness and biodefense at the country's National Security Council - which advises the White House. Throughout her career, she was a key player in developing measures to deal with the H1N1 pandemic, the Ebola outbreak and the Zika virus.

Her dedication to working for the US government, by the way, began during George W. Bush's administration, after the September 11 attacks, continuing in leadership positions during the years when the country was governed by Barack Obama and Donald Trump. It's worth noting that she is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations' board of experts, where people who leave one government usually work until they are called to another. Luciana is currently vice-president of In-Q-Tel - an investment company that accelerates the development and launch of technologies for use by the US government.

Luciana has become a well-known figure for her positions on Covid-19

While working as a White House advisor in 2018, Luciana even warned about the possibility of a flu pandemic as the biggest health threat to come in the country. At the time, during a lecture on the 100th anniversary of the Spanish flu, the scientist said that the country would not be ready to deal with a situation of such proportion - but in the same month, her department, which would be responsible for responding to a pandemic of this type, was closed down.

The following year, Luciana resigned from the White House, but remained close during the Covid-19 crisis this year. An advocate of strengthening social distancing measures and increasing the number of tests in the population, she said in an interview with Brazil Journal that, since we are in the "age of epidemics", it is necessary to have global systems capable of detecting waves of diseases so that the necessary measures can be taken before they become pandemics affecting the whole world.

In addition, since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, the scientist has become one of the most vocal critics of the use of chloroquine as a treatment for Covid-19 before its efficacy was scientifically proven. As for vaccines, her stance is also usually cautious. In an interview with Politico magazine, she said: "A definitive solution requires the widespread availability of one or more safe and effective vaccines, but they won't come quickly. [...] Even if it works, it will take large-scale manufacturing and a long time before it is available to everyone."

As part of the council, Luciana will help Biden fight the coronavirus through science

Now, as part of the transition government's task force - which will be led by doctors David Kessler, Marcella Nunez-Smith and Vivek Murthy - Luciana has a long road ahead of her. The United States is the country most affected by the pandemic, both in terms of the number of confirmed cases and the number of deaths from Covid-19. On the board, the role of the scientist and the other experts will be, in Biden's words, "to manage the increase in reported infections; to ensure that vaccines are safe, effective and distributed efficiently, equitably and free of charge; and to protect at-risk populations".