News Release

HHS Appoints Members to National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity
New Board meets June 30 - July 1, 2005 on "Dual Use" Research

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt today announced the appointment of 24 members to the National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB). The board will provide advice and recommend specific strategies for efficient and effective oversight of federally conducted or supported dual-use biological research taking into consideration both national security concerns and the needs of the research community.

"We all realize some research that results in new medical treatments, agricultural advances, and biodefense countermeasures could end up in the hands of terrorists who could twist it for their own purposes," Secretary Leavitt said. "The NSABB will provide a forum to help educate scientists on biosecurity and a means for the federal government to receive advice on how to advance scientific knowledge without compromising security."

Dennis L. Kasper, M.D., director of the Channing Laboratory at the Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women�s Hospital/Harvard Medical School will chair the NSABB. The NSABB members are:

Arturo Casadevall, M.D., Ph.D., chair of biomedical research, chief of infectious disease, and professor of medicine, microbiology, and immunology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

Murray L. Cohen, Ph.D., M.P.H., C.I.H., the president of Consultants in Disease and Injury Control, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in emerging infections and hospital safety.

Lynn W. Enquist, Ph.D., a professor and chair in the Department of Molecular Biology at Princeton University, and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Virology.

Barry J. Erlick, Ph.D., the founder and president of BJE Associates, Inc., a scientific and technical consulting firm advising government, industry and academia.

David R. Franz, D.V.M., Ph.D., the vice president and chief biological scientist with the Midwest Research Institute and director of the National Agricultural Biosecurity Center at Kansas State University.

Claire M. Fraser, Ph.D., the president, director and co-founder of the Institute for Genomic Research, and professor of microbiology, tropical medicine, and pharmacology at George Washington University School of Medicine.

General John A. Gordon (Ret.), a four-star general retired from the U.S. Air Force; also a former Homeland Security Advisor and former deputy National Security Advisor for Counter-Terrorism to the White House.

Michael J. Imperiale, Ph.D., a professor of microbiology and immunology at the University of Michigan Medical School, where he is also chair of the Institutional Biosafety Committee.

Paul S. Keim, Ph.D., the director of pathogen genomics at the Translational Genomics Research Institute, holding an endowed chair of microbiology at Northern Arizona University.

Stanley M. Lemon, M.D., dean of medicine, as well as chair and director of the Institute for Human Infections and Immunity at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.

Stuart B. Levy, M.D., a professor of molecular biology and microbiology and professor of medicine, as well as the director of the Center for Adaptation Genetics and Drug Resistance at Tufts University School of Medicine.

John R. Lumpkin, M.D., M.P.H., a senior vice president and director of the Health Care Group at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and former director of the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Adel A. F. Mahmoud, M.D., Ph.D., the president of Merck Vaccines at Merck & Co., Inc. and adjunct professor of medicine at Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals of Cleveland.

Mark E. Nance, J.D., an attorney in private practice focused on matters of biotechnology law and business.

Michael T. Osterholm, Ph.D., M.P.H., the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy, associate director of the National Center for Food Production and Defense, and professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Minnesota.

David A. Relman, M.D., associate professor of medicine and of microbiology and infectious diseases at Stanford University School of Medicine, and chief of the Infectious Diseases Section at the Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System.

James A. Roth, D.V.M., Ph.D., a distinguished professor in the Department of Veterinary Microbiology and Preventive Medicine in the College of Veterinary Medicine and director of the Center for Food Security and Public Health at Iowa State University.

Harvey Rubin, M.D., Ph.D., the director of the Institute for Strategic Threat Analysis and a professor of medicine specializing in infectious diseases at the University of Pennsylvania.

Thomas F. Shenk, Ph.D., a virologist and professor in the Department of Molecular Biology at Princeton University.

Andrew A. Sorensen, Ph.D., the president of the University of South Carolina with a research background in public health, epidemiology, and health policy.

Admiral William O. Studeman (Ret.), a private consultant who is currently a member of the Defense Science Board, the Presidential Commission on Weapons of Mass Destruction, the Council on Foreign Relations, and other key advisory bodies.

Anne K. Vidaver, Ph.D., a professor and head of the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, and former chief scientist at the USDA.

Diane W. Wara, M.D., professor of pediatrics and program director of the Pediatric Clinical Research Center at the University of California, San Francisco, as well as chair of the NIH Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee.

The NSABB meeting is open to the public. It will begin at 8:00 a.m. on June 30 at the Hyatt Regency Bethesda, 7400 Wisconsin Avenue, Bethesda, Md., and will conclude at 1:30 p.m. on July 1. The meeting can also be viewed by live Webcast. Additional information on the NSABB, its charter, and the first meeting is available at www.biosecurityboard.gov.