Joe Biden facing questions as his doctor son-in-law advises his campaign on COVID at same time as running investment firm putting money into healthcare startups

Joe Biden's campaign is facing questions about the role of his son-in-law after a report that Howard Krein has been advising the Democrat on the coronavirus amid a possible conflict of interest.

Krein's venture capital business, StartUp Health, has been running a special initiative to invest in health care startups that offer solutions to the COVID pandemic, Politico reported, as Krein participated in daily calls to brief Biden on the virus.

His dual roles of advising the campaign while investing into solutions to the outbreak could be a conflict of interest or lead to questions about whether his business is benefiting from his father-in-law.

President Donald Trump has faced many conflict of interest questions while in office. The president still owns his private business, the Trump Organization, but the day-to-day business is run by his sons Don Jr. and Eric. Still, questions have been raised, for example, about how the Trump hotels and golf courses have benefited from Trump occupying the Oval Office. 

Dr. Krein does not have any formal policy or advisory role with the campaign, a Biden official told DailyMail.com. 

Krein occasionally joined calls with Biden to provide his perspective as a health care worker who has been on the front lines of the fight against COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, including treating patients and helping to coordinate his hospital's response.

Vice President Joe Biden walks with his daughter Ashley Biden, his wife Jill Biden and son-in-law Howard Krien during a visit to the National Orchid Garden in Singapore on July 26, 2013. Krien and Ashley Biden married in 2012

Joe Biden's campaign is facing questions about the role of his son-in-law Howard Krein; above then Vice President Joe Biden with Jill Biden, grand daughter Naomi Biden, and Howard Krein leave carnations during a visit to Turkey in 2016

Krein, 53, is an Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology: Head & Neck Surgery at Thomas Jefferson University and a founding partner and co-director of Jefferson's Facial Aesthetic and Reconstructive Center.

He's also served on the Biden Cancer Initiative's Board of Directors from 2017 to 2019.

He joined the investment business - as its Chief Medical Officer - not long after he began dating Biden's daughter Ashley in 2010. The two married in June 2012. 

Krein's brother, Steven, founded the health care investment business in June 2011. The day before it launched he had an Oval Office meeting with then President Barack Obama and Biden. 

Steven Krein told the Philadelphia Business Journal that Biden was 'a big fan' of StartUp Health and had arranged the Oval Office meeting.

StartUp Health is 'committed to achieving health moonshots' and invests in 'healthcare transformers,' according to its website. 

The moonshot language is similar to language Biden has used when he has spoken about healthcare, specifically his Cancer Moonshot initiative. 

'It does raise questions of nepotism,' Roy Poses, president of the Foundation for Integrity and Responsibility in Medicine, told Politico. 'If you have access to people within the administration, it can help you with regulatory issues and policy issues.' 

The federal government has directed billions of dollars in funding toward the pandemic, including areas related to research on treatment and a vaccine.  

Biden has defended his family's business ties throughout his political career, particularly those of his son Hunter. 

He's said Hunter Biden did nothing wrong when he sat on the board of Ukrainian energy company and also said he did not speak to his son about business matters.

'I have never spoken to my son about his overseas business dealings,' Biden said during the Democratic presidential primary.

Hunter Biden said the only thing his father said to him at the time he took the post at Burisma was: 'I hope you know what you're doing.' 

Jill Biden poses in front of the Taj Mahal with her daughter Ashley Biden and son-in-law Howard David Krein in India in July 2013 when the three accompanied then-VP Biden on a trip

Joe Biden has defended other family members' business, including son Hunter Biden 

President Trump has tried to use Hunter Biden's work for Burisma against his rival for the White House. 

He attacked Hunter about his business dealings - in both China and the Ukraine - and drug problem during the first presidential debate. 

Hunter Biden received an administrative discharge from the Navy in after failing a drug test for cocaine in 2013. He was seeking to be commissioned as a reserve officer. He did not receive a dishonorable discharge, but an administrative one, according to press accounts at the time. 

Biden responded during the debate: 'My son, like a lot of people we know at home, he had a drug problem.'

'He's fixed it. He's worked on it,' Biden said. 'And I'm proud of him.'