After 2 years in Washington, DC, Alondra Nelson is returning to Princeton. A highly decorated sociologist who has written and studied extensively on the intersection of genetics and race, she was appointed by President Joe Biden as deputy director for science and society in the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) in 2021. The following year, when Eric Lander was removed as the head of that office, Nelson stepped in as its interim director until Arati Prabhakar was named permanent director 8 months later. I recently spoke with Nelson, about a range of issues, from scientific publishing to artificial intelligence. She clearly leaves behind a legacy of science policy-making that encourages equity.

How do those who have been the objects of scientific study and medical experimentation become the agents or the producers of scientific knowledge?