Rachel I. Anderson, Ph.D.

Rachel I. Anderson, Ph.D., currently serves as the Senior Policy Advisor for the Office of AIDS Research (OAR). She oversees the development of the Professional Judgment Budget and the Congressional Budget Justification, supports OAR Operational and Strategic Planning, and leads the Policy, Legislation, Communications, and Engagement (PLCE) Team. Dr. Anderson joined OAR in October 2022 as Team Lead for Science Policy and Legislative Activities.

Before joining OAR, Dr. Anderson worked as a health science policy analyst in the Office of Science Policy and Planning at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) and the Office of Science Policy and Communication at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). In these roles, she coordinated legislative activities, contributed to reporting, planning, and analysis activities, led strategic planning efforts, and prepared briefing materials and presentations for leadership. She earned her Ph.D. in Behavioral Neuroscience from Binghamton University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Medical University of South Carolina. She transitioned to government through the AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellowship program, serving one year at the National Institute of Justice and one year at NIH.