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President-Elect Biden's Coronavirus Task Force Has Several Boston Ties

BOSTON (CBS) – President-elect Joe Biden named his coronavirus task force for his transition team Monday and several have ties to Boston.

The COVID-19 Advisory Board is made up of 13 doctors and scientists and will be led by three co-chairs. All three have connections to Massachusetts. Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith did her residency at Brigham and Women's Hospital, as did former Surgeon Genera Dr. Vivek Murthy, who is also a professor at Harvard Medical School. Dr. David Kessler graduated from Amherst College and Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Atul Gawande is also on the board. He's a surgeon at Brigham and Women's Hospital and a professor at Harvard Medical School.

"The Brigham community is filled with pride upon learning that three of the experts named to President-elect Biden's COVID-19 task force have Brigham connections," Brigham Health President Dr. Betsy Nabel said in a statement.

"We're grateful for the service of the diverse team of medical and scientific leaders that the President-elect has called upon to guide our nation's ongoing response to COVID-19, and we remain optimistic that their collective wisdom and expertise will accelerate progress towards controlling the pandemic in our country."

You can see the full list of members here:

Biden and vice president-elect Kamala Harris received their first briefing from the new advisory board late Monday morning.

Afterwards, Biden addressed the nation, saying, "Please, I implore you, wear a mask. Do it for yourself. Do it for your neighbor. A mask is not a political statement, but it is a good way to start pulling the country together."

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