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AHRQ Announces New Members to U.S. Preventive Services Task Force

Press Release Date: March 5, 2008

New members of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force were announced today by Carolyn M. Clancy, M.D., director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, which supports the Task Force. David Grossman, M.D., of Seattle; J. Sanford (Sandy) Schwartz, M.D., of Philadelphia; and Timothy Wilt, M.D., M.P.H., of Minneapolis join the Task Force this month. Another new member, Bernadette Melnyk, Ph.D., of Phoenix, joined the Task Force in November, 2007.

The Task Force consists of 16 health care experts in the specialties of family medicine, pediatrics, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, geriatrics, preventive medicine, public health, behavioral medicine, and nursing.

Dr. Grossman is a board-certified pediatrician recognized for his research on injury prevention and Native American health. He serves as medical director of preventive care at Group Health, a large Seattle-based health care system. He is also a senior investigator at the Group Health Center for Health Studies and a professor of health services and adjunct professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington. He serves on the Secretary's Advisory Committee on Injury Prevention and Control for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2007, the American Academy of Pediatrics awarded Dr. Grossman the Native American Child Health Advocacy Award.

Dr. Schwartz, a board-certified internal medicine specialist, is the Leon Hess Professor of Medicine, Health Management, and Economics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Wharton School. He is past president of the American Federation of Clinical Research and the Society for Medical Decision Making, former Executive Director of the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, and past Editor of the American Journal of Managed Care. An expert in the evaluation of medical practices and guidelines, Dr. Schwartz has served on the National Institutes of Health and Institute of Medicine committees in these areas. He is a member of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Medical Care Advisory Committee and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association's Medical Advisory Panel.

Dr. Wilt, a board-certified internal medicine specialist, is a professor in the Department of Medicine at the University of Minnesota and the Minneapolis Veteran Affairs Medical Center. As an investigator in the Minneapolis VA Health Services Research and Development Center for Chronic Disease Outcomes Research, his research interests include evidence-based chronic disease prevention and management. Dr. Wilt served on the Outcomes Research & Epidemiology Task Force in 1997 and currently sits on the editorial board of the American Journal of Medicine.

Dr. Melnyk is dean and distinguished foundation professor in nursing at the Arizona State University College of Nursing & Healthcare Innovation. She is a pediatric and psychiatric nurse practitioner whose research focuses on improving mental health outcomes in children, teens, and parents. She directs the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners' "Keep Your Children/Yourself Safe and Secure" mental health promotion program. She served on the American Academy of Pediatrics Mental Health Task Force in 2006 and the Institute of Medicine's working committee on evidence-based practice in 2007. For her dedication to innovative programming leading to health care solutions, the American Academy of Nursing named her a 2006 Edge Runner.

About the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is the leading independent panel of experts in prevention and primary care. The Task Force, which is supported by AHRQ, conducts rigorous, impartial assessments of the scientific evidence for the effectiveness of a broad range of clinical preventive services including screening, counseling, and preventive medications. Its recommendations are considered the gold standard for clinical preventive services. More information about the Task Force can be found on the AHRQ Web site at http://www.preventiveservices.ahrq.gov.


Internet Citation:

AHRQ Announces New Members to U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Press Release, March 5, 2008. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/news/press/pr2008/tfmemberspr.htm


 

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