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Gingrich Says Trump Supports Science

The Trump Administration will be "very science- and technology-oriented," Newt Gingrich, an advisor to President-elect Donald Trump, tells Stat News.

Gingrich, a former speaker of the US House of Representatives, points to Trump's recent meeting with technology executives as well as to his own sit-down with Elon Musk and with Steve Bannon and Steve Miller, both newly named senior advisors and strategists for Trump. Gingrich says both were supportive of the newly passed 21st Century Cures Act.

"They're going to be very committed to [Food and Drug Administration] reform that will probably bring more capital into pharmaceuticals and biologics and the development of science into usable products," he adds. "I think they will continue the momentum on [the National Institutes of Health." Stat News notes that Gingrich knows current NIH Director Francis Collins, and Gingrich says there have been discussions about keeping Collins on for the new administration.

Gingrich adds that while Trump is not a science specialist, he is "omnivorous in his interest in knowledge" and is choosing advisors whose businesses rely on science. "These are the kind of people who believe that knowledge is usable and improves the future and increases our options," he says.