AMHERST — Two health experts with western Massachusetts ties will help to shape national public health policies as part of President-elect Joe Biden’s COVID-19 task force.

Amherst College alums David Kessler and Ezekiel Emanuel will both advise Biden as members of the task force, which Kessler co-chairs.

Kessler is a pediatrician, former commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and former dean of the Yale and University of California, San Francisco medical schools. Emanuel is an oncologist, chair of the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy at the University of Pennsylvania, and senior fellow at the Center for American Progress. Both studied at Amherst College in the 1970s.

Biden announced the task force last week, two days after he was declared winner of the presidential election. The task force comprises thirteen health experts and physicians who will help to inform Biden’s plan for combating the COVID-19 pandemic.

Emanuel declined to comment when reached by the Gazette, and a representative for Kessler said that he was not available at the time.

Jacquelyn Voghel can be reached at jvoghel@gazettenet.com.