AHRQ Names Deborah A. Zarin, M.D., as New Director for Technology Assessment

Media Advisory Date: February 14, 2000

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) today announced the appointment of Deborah A. Zarin, M.D., as the new director of the Technology Assessment Program within AHRQ's Center for Practice and Technology Assessment (CPTA). She comes to this position from the American Psychiatric Association, where she served as Deputy Medical Director and Director of the Office of Quality Improvement and Psychiatric Services.

Dr. Zarin received her Bachelor of Arts from Stanford University and earned her Doctor of Medicine from Harvard Medical School. She performed her residency in psychiatry at McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA. She served as a technical expert for AHRQ's evidence reports on the treatment of depression (select for summary or full report) and on the treatment of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (select for summary). Over the past four years she has served as project director and co-director of such projects as the Psychiatric Research Network of the National Institute of Drug Abuse, NIH, and the Practice Research Network of the American Psychiatric Association.

"Dr. Zarin's experience as a health services researcher, as well as her background in developing and promoting evidence-based medicine, will be an asset to the Center for Practice and Technology Assessment," said Dr. John Eisenberg, AHRQ's Director. "We are very pleased that she is joining AHRQ to further our goal to improve evidence-based assessments of technologies and health care treatments and conditions."

Dr. Zarin is a contributing editor for the Journal of Practical Psychiatry and Behavioral Health. She has published over 50 peer reviewed research articles, numerous book chapters and has done over 75 scientific presentations. She is a member of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology Commission on Recertification for Psychiatry, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Quality Issues Committee, and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Committee on Outcomes Research. The appointment is effective February 14.

For more information, please contact AHRQ Public Affairs, (301) 427-1364: Nancy Comfort, (301) 427-1866 (NComfort@ahrq.gov).

Internet Citation:

AHRQ Names Deborah A. Zarin, M.D., as New Director for Technology Assessment. Media Advisory, February 14, 2000. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/news/press/pr2000/zarinpr.htm