HHS Secretary Appoints New Members to AHCPR National Advisory Council

Press Release Date: September 24, 1999

Health and Human Services Secretary Donna E. Shalala today announced the appointment of four new members to the National Advisory Council (NAC) for the Health Care Policy, Research and Evaluation. The Council provides advice to the Secretary and to the Administrator of the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR). The 24-member Council is composed of private-sector experts representing health care plans, providers, purchasers, consumers, health services researchers and includes top federal health officials.

"These four new members bring a wealth of knowledge and experience that will enrich the Council's ability to advise AHCPR on its direction and research portfolio," said Secretary Shalala. "Their imaginative and creative leadership will help the agency achieve its goal of improving the quality of health care services for all Americans."

The four new Council members are:

• Karen Davis, Ph.D., President, The Commonwealth Fund, New York, NY.
• Marsha Lillie-Blanton, Ph.D., Vice President, Henry J. Kaiser Foundation, Washington, D.C.
• Uwe E. Reinhardt, Ph.D., James Madison Professor of Political Economy and Professor of Economics and Public Affairs, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ.
• John Clark Nelson, M.D., Partner, Mountain West Obstetrics and Gynecology, Salt Lake City, UT.

The existing Council members are:

• Donald Berwick, M.D., M.P.P., President and CEO, Institute for Healthcare Improvement, Boston, MA (Committee Chairman).
• Colleen Conway-Welch, Ph.D., Professor and Dean, Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, Nashville, TN.
• Jose Julio Escarce, M.D., Ph.D., Senior Natural Scientist, RAND, Santa Monica, CA.
• Elliott S. Fisher, M.D., M.P.H., Associate Professor of Medicine, Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, NH.
• Dennis G. Fryback, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI.
• Vanessa N. Gamble, M.D., Ph.D., Director, Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in Medicine and Associate Professor, History of Medicine and Family Medicine, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine, Madison, WI.
• Larry A. Green, M.D., American Academy of Family Practice, Washington, D.C.
• Brent C. James, M.D., Vice President for Medical Research and Executive Director, Institute for Health Care Delivery Research, Intermountain Health Care, Salt Lake City, UT.
• Sheila Leatherman, Executive Vice President, United HealthCare Corporation, Minnetonka, MN.
• James M. Perrin, M.D., Associate Professor and Director of General Pediatrics, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA.
• Ruby Takanishi, Ph.D., President, Foundation for Child Development, New York, NY.
• Peter W. Thomas, J.D., Principal Attorney, Powers, Pyles, Sutter and Verville, P.C., Washington, D.C.
• Nelda P. Wray, M.D., Director, Houston Center for Quality of Care and Utilization Studies, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Houston, TX.

In addition to the private-sector members, representatives from seven federal agencies serve as ex-officio members: the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the Food and Drug Administration and the Health Care Financing Administration.

Editor's Note: The NAC's next meeting will be on Friday, November 5, 1999. It will be held at AHCPR in the 4th Floor Conference Room at 6010 Executive Blvd, Rockville, MD 20852. For additional information and biographical sketches, please call Nancy Comfort at (301) 427-1866 or E-mail NComfort@ahrq.gov.

For additional information, contact AHCPR Public Affairs, (301) 427-1364: Nancy Comfort, (301) 427-1866 (NComfort@ahrq.gov); Karen Migdail, (301) 427-1855 (KMigdail@ahrq.gov).

Internet Citation:

HHS Secretary Appoints New Members to AHCPR National Advisory Council. Press Release, September 24, 1999. Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/news/press/pr1999/nac999pr.htm

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