Welcome. I’m Fiona Pollack, a student at Harvard University pursuing a degree in applied mathematics and government. I’m most interested in the nexus between technology and national security, with a dual focus on artificial intelligence and biosecurity. Most recently, I was on leave at the Department of Defense serving in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy. I will soon be starting a new role as Special Assistant to the Director of the White House Office of Pandemic Preparedness and Response Policy, where I am detailed from my position as a fellow and member of the adjunct staff at the RAND Corporation.

Outside of my studies, I was previously the AI Governance Director of the Harvard AI Safety Team, an organization I helped found in 2021 to promote technical AI safety research. In the past, I’ve worked with research groups affiliated with Harvard, Columbia University, the University of Pennsylvania, NASA, and the Special Competitive Studies Project.

My current interests include technical AI governance, hardware and software export controls, pandemic defense technologies (far-UVC, pathogen-agnostic biosurveillance, next-generation PPE), and biosecurity strategy.

📨 Contact: fpollack [at] college.harvard.edu