Dr. Kate Sixt currently serves as the Principal Director for Biotechnology in the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering. In this capacity, Dr. Sixt leads the Department of Defense’s research and engineering efforts to advance military capabilities through biotechnology innovation and maintain a competitive advantage in biotechnology. Prior to joining the Department, Dr. Sixt was an Assistant Director and then the Acting Director of the Strategy, Forces, and Resources Division at the Institute for Defense Analyses in Alexandria, Virginia, from 2019 to 2022. This Division houses a diverse body of technology and policy research in national security, including strategy and risk, international arms markets, forces and capabilities, readiness, and defenses against weapons of mass destruction. Dr. Sixt joined the Institute for Defense Analyses in 2013 after completing her postdoctoral fellowship at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland. She holds a Ph.D. in biochemistry, cellular and molecular biology, and neuroscience from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland; a master’s in the international law of armed conflict from the Geneva Academy in Geneva, Switzerland; and a bachelor’s in biochemistry from St. Bonaventure University in St. Bonaventure, New York.