The National Institutes of Health (NIH) today announces the appointments to the NIH Council of Councils. The Council is made up of 27 members selected from the NIH Institute and Center (IC) advisory councils and advisory committees to the NIH Office of the Director. The Council will advise the NIH Director on cutting-edge trans-NIH priorities and matters related to the policies and activities of the Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives, established by the NIH Reform Act 2006, and the Office of Portfolio Analysis and Strategic Initiatives (OPASI). The Council also will act as an external advisory panel to the IC Directors during the concept approval stage of the review process for trans-NIH initiatives.

"My charge to the Council is to be bold and define experiments that engage the community that NIH can do and fund reasonably," said NIH Director Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D. "The Council should foster incubation of new ideas and build resources as needed, all driven by analysis of the science."

The Council of Councils and the Common Fund to support trans-NIH initiatives were authorized by the NIH Reform Act of 2006 signed into law by the President in January 2007. This act was the first omnibus reauthorization of NIH in 14 years. A major element of the Reform Act of 2006 was the new authority it gave to the NIH Director to improve program coordination, assemble accurate data, implement strategic plans based on IC-determined priorities, ensure resources are properly allocated, and further maximize investigator-initiated research.

More information on the Council of Council's role and the NIH Reform Act of 2006 can be found at http://www.nih.gov/about/reauthorization/index.htm.

The Council's first official meeting will be held March 31-April 1, 2008, on the NIH campus, Bethesda, Md. The meeting is open to the public; an agenda and registration information are available on the Council's website (http://opasi.nih.gov/council).

The following are serving terms on the Council:

Ronald L. Arenson, M.D., University of California, San Francisco, liaison to the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering
Enriqueta C. Bond, Ph.D., Burroughs-Wellcome Fund, Research Triangle Park, N.C., liaison to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Donna Bates Boucher, Bates Group, Inc., Denver, Colo., liaison to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders
Richard Chabran, M.L.S., California Community Technology Policy Group, Los Angeles, Calif., liaison to the National Library of Medicine
Coleen K. Cunningham, M.D., Duke University Medical Center, Durham, N.C., liaison to the Office of AIDS Research
Robert M. Dickler, Association of American Medical Colleges, Washington, D.C., liaison to the NIH Clinical Center
Cecile A. Feldman, D.M.D., M.B.A., University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Newark, N.J., liaison to the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research
Edwin Flores, Ph.D., J.D., Chalker Flores, LLP, Dallas, Texas, liaison to the National Institute of General Medical Sciences
Joseph H. Graziano, Ph.D., Mailman School of Public Health and College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, N.Y., liaison to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
Bevra H. Hahn, M.D., David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California - Los Angeles, liaison to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
Mary J.C. Hendrix, Ph.D., Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, liaison to the National Cancer Institute
Dilip V. Jeste, M.D., Sam and Rose Stein Institute for Research on Aging, University of California -San Diego and Veterans Administration Medical Center, San Diego, liaison to the National Institute of Mental Health
Lenworth N. Johnson, M.D., University of Missouri - Columbia, liaison to the National Eye Institute
Warren A. Jones, M.D., F.A.A.F.P., Mississippi Institute for Improvement of Geographic Minority Health, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, liaison to the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities
Arthur M. Kleinman, M.D., Harvard University Medical School, Cambridge, Mass., liaison to the John E. Fogarty International Center for Advanced Study in the Health Sciences
Joseph Loscalzo, M.D., Ph.D., Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, liaison to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
Marjorie K. Mau, M.D., John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Honolulu, liaison to the Council of Public Representatives
Juanita L. Merchant, M.D., Ph.D., University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, liaison to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
Sandra Millon-Underwood, Ph.D., R.N., University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, liaison to the National Institute of Nursing Research
Daria Mochly-Rosen, Ph.D., Stanford University School of Medicine, Calif., liaison to the Center for Scientific Review
Sergio R. Ojeda, D.V.M., Oregon National Primate Research Center, Oregon Health and Science University School of Medicine, Beaverton, Ore., liaison to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Orien Reid, M.S.W., Alzheimer's Disease International, Consumer Connection, Laverock, Pa., liaison to the National Institute on Aging
Martin Rosenberg, Ph.D., Promega Corporation, Madison, WI, liaison to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Richard A. Rudick, M.D., The Mellen Center, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Ohio, liaison to the National Center for Research Resources
Harold T. Shapiro, Ph.D., The Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, N.J., liaison to the National Human Genome Research Institute
Phyllis M. Wise, Ph.D., University of Washington, Seattle, liaison to the Office of Research on Women's Health
Marina E. Wolf, Ph.D., Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, liaison to the National Institute on Drug Abuse
Alan M. Krensky, M.D., Director, OPASI, is Chairperson of the Council. The Council's Executive Secretary is Elizabeth L. Wilder, P.D., Acting Associate Director of OPASI.
The following additional persons will represent three NIH ICs at the March 31-April 1, 2008, meeting:
Joan E. Fox, Ph.D., Cleveland Clinic and Lerner College of Medicine, Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, liaison to the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Victor M. Hesselbrock, Ph.D., University of Connecticut Health Center, School of Medicine, Farmington, Conn., liaison to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
Gary L. Westbrook, M.D., The Vollum Institute and Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, liaison to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

A roster with further information about the members is posted on the Council's website (http://opasi.nih.gov/council/roster.asp).

The Office of Portfolio Analysis and Strategic Initiatives (OPASI), within the Office of the NIH Director, provides the NIH with the methods and information necessary to manage large and complex scientific portfolios, identifies important areas of emerging scientific opportunities or rising public health challenges, and assists in the acceleration of investments in these areas focusing on those involving multiple Institutes and Centers. For more information about OPASI, visit http://opasi.nih.gov.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) — The Nation's Medical Research Agency — includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research, and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.