Rick Weiss has more than three decades of experience in journalism and public affairs, including 15 years as a science reporter at the Washington Post and more than a decade leading strategic communications and media relations activities around issues of science and technology.

He recently launched and is the Director of SciLine, a philanthropically funded initiative hosted by the American Association for the Advancement of Science to help journalists cover science and biomedicine issues. He previously served as director of strategic communications at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (2009 to 2013) and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (2013 to 2017).

While at The Post, Weiss wrote more than 1,000 news and feature articles about advances in science and technology and their economic, societal, and ethical implications. His awards include the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing’s Victor Cohn Prize for Excellence in Medical Science Reporting; the National Association of Science Writers’ Science and Society Award; the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s Science Journalism Award; and assorted honors from the American Public Health Association, the Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association, and the Washington-Baltimore Newspaper Guild.

Weiss earned a Bachelor’s degree in biology from Cornell University and a Master’s degree in journalism from the University of California, Berkeley, and holds a license in medical technology with the American Society for Clinical Pathology. He lives in Takoma Park, Maryland, with his wife Natalie Angier, the New York Times science columnist and author.