OSP Senior Leadership Team

Jessica Tucker, PhD

Acting Deputy Director of the Office of Science Policy

Jessica Tucker is the Acting Deputy Director of the Office of Science Policy at NIH. In this position, she helps provide leadership on a number of policy topics that impact biomedical research. She previously served as the Director of the Division of Biosafety, Biosecurity, and Emerging Biotechnology Policy within the Office of Science Policy, where she led work on a number of policy topics, including the NIH Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant or Synthetic Nucleic Acid Molecules, dual use research, and emerging biotechnologies.

Previously, Dr. Tucker was a Program Director at the National Institute for Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) at NIH where she managed a program on gene and drug delivery systems and on synthetic biology. Prior to her time at NIH, she worked at HHS in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, which she joined initially as an American Association for the Advancement of Science Policy Fellow. Prior to her time at HHS, Dr. Tucker was a Visiting Assistant Professor at Stony Brook University within the Department of Technology and Society, where she conducted engineering education research and lectured within the Department of Chemical and Molecular Engineering. Dr. Tucker worked for two years in research and development in the pharmaceutical industry.

Jessica received a B.S.E. in Chemical Engineering from Princeton University and a PhD in Chemical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.