About CERTs

Annual Report Year 3

Letter from the Steering Committee

Dear Fellow Citizens:

The progress of the CERTs is a great source of pride. CERTs projects now number over 130 and the results are already making a difference in the lives of patients every day.

From the very beginning, we wanted CERTs to be a national resource for research and education on therapeutics. Our unique public-private collaborations give us the broad scope and the flexibility we need to identify the most pressing therapeutics issues and tackle them head-on. They also allow us to respond to national needs.

As public and medical concerns shift to national preparedness, access to medicines, and the safety of those using these therapies, so does our attention focus on these matters as well.

Our third year has reminded us that collaboration is the key to responding quickly and judiciously to emerging research needs. We have expanded our partnerships a great deal and, along with them, our ability to address the intricacies of optimizing the use of therapeutics.

We are also learning to fine-tune how the CERTs centers work together, combining our expertise and resources so that the sum is even greater than its already substantial parts.

The program achieved some exciting results in 2001-2002, only a fraction of which can be highlighted in the space of this report. But with each achievement, a new challenge becomes apparent and we are equally excited to address these as well.

As always, we welcome your suggestions to help us become even more productive.

— Hugh Tilson, MD, DrPH
Chair, on behalf of the CERTs Steering Committee:

Lynn A. Bosco, MD, MPH; M. Miles Braun, MD, MPH;
Robert M. Califf, MD; William H. Campbell, PhD;
Lisa C. Egbuonu-Davis, MD; Linda F. Golodner;
Judith M. Kramer, MD, MS; Richard Platt, MD, MSc;
Wayne A. Ray, PhD; Kenneth G. Saag, MD, MSc;
Marcel E. Salive, MD, MPH; Brian L. Strom, MD, MPH;
Karen Williams; Raymond L. Woosley, MD, PhD

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