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The council provides the President and the Secretary with recommendations regarding programs and policies intended to promote the highest quality of research, prevention, care and treatment. The 25 new members will join nine members currently serving terms on the council.

"Under the leadership of Dr. Sullivan and Dr. Coburn, these new council members will be an invaluable resource for the administration as we continue the nation's battle against HIV and AIDS," said Secretary Thompson. "HHS has long supported a vigorous response to this terrible disease through extensive research, prevention initiatives and expanding access to quality care and treatment. The expertise that the new members bring will help our efforts grow even stronger."

The Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS was first established in 1995, and President George W. Bush renewed the council's charter in July 2001. Council members serve terms of up to four-years and are selected for their expertise in HIV/AIDS and their diverse personal and professional backgrounds.

Information on the new members named to the advisory council follows:

Louis W. Sullivan, M.D., served as HHS Secretary from 1989-1993 during the administration of President George H. W. Bush. He is currently president of Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Ga.

Thomas Coburn, M.D., is a family physician from Oklahoma who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1995-2001. During his tenure, he worked extensively on the reauthorization of the Ryan White CARE Act.

James P. Driscoll, Ph.D., has been an HIV/AIDS activist since the late 1980s. He is from Oregon.

Mary Fisher founded the Family AIDS Network, which became the Mary Fisher Center for AIDS Research and Education (CARE). Fisher, who is HIV positive, lives in Michigan.

Charles Francis has built a career in public policy issues management, public affairs consulting and communications in areas ranging from health care insurance to nonprofit organizations. He resides in Washington, D.C.

Vera Franklin is the executive director of the Ahalaya Native Care Center Inc., in Oklahoma City. The center provides counseling and services to American Indians living with HIV/AIDS.

Mildred Freeman directs HIV/AIDS programs for the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education as its director of human resources, grants and programs. The organization is based in Silver Spring, Md.

John F. Galbraith is president of the Catholic Medical Mission Board, which sponsors campaigns to prevent and treat AIDS in southern Africa.

Katryna Gholston serves on the Alabama Governor's Task Force on HIV/AIDS and is an HIV-positive single mother.

Cheryl-Anne Hall is the director of the Caribbean American Family Health Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Karen Ivantic-Doucette is an educator at the Marquette University College of Nursing and a practicing family nurse practitioner in an HIV/AIDS primary care clinic in Milwaukee, Wis.

Joseph Jennings is president of the organization Turning Point and speaks to youth and communities on HIV/AIDS, teen pregnancy and drug abuse prevention. He brings real-life experience as a former drug addict and gang leader and resides in Palm Bay, Fla.

Rashida Jolley is a college student and former Miss District of Columbia in the Miss America Pageant. She has spoken extensively throughout the country to youth and young adults on HIV/AIDS prevention.

Abner Mason is Chief Secretary to the Governor of Massachusetts. As a gay, African-American AIDS activist, he brings the perspective of one of the communities hardest hit by AIDS.

Sandra McDonald is president and founder of Outreach Inc., a community-based organization that provides AIDS awareness and prevention programs in Atlanta's African-American communities.

Hank McKinnell is chairman of the board and CEO of Pfizer Inc., a worldwide pharmaceutical company that has developed a number of medications to improve the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS.

Joseph McIlhaney Jr., M.D., is the founder and president of the Medical Institute for Sexual Health, a non-profit organization that provides medical, educational and social data to groups involved in combating sexually transmitted diseases and unwed pregnancies, Austin, Texas.

Dandrick Moton is director of community and youth relations for Prim-n-Proper Inc., in Conway, Ark. Moton conducts outreach to youth across the country about HIV and teen pregnancy prevention.

Nathan M. Nickerson is director of the Public Health Division of the Department of Health of Portland, Maine, where he has oversight of many of the city's HIV-related programs.

Debbie Rock is the executive director of the Baltimore Pediatric HIV Program Inc., which primarily serves African-American women and children.

Edwin Sanders is the senior pastor and founder of the Metropolitan Interdenominational Church in Nashville, Tenn., and executive director of his church's First Response Center, which provides services to people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.

Perm Sharma, D.D.S., of Milwaukee, Wis., is active in the international health community working for the elimination of leprosy and HIV/AIDS. He has practiced dentistry in Burma, India, England and the United States.

Lisa Shoemaker has spoken to hundreds of audiences about compassionate care for people with HIV since being infected by her dentist in 1988. She resides in Empire, Mich.

Anita Smith is co-founder and administrator of the Children's AIDS Fund, which provides care, services, resources, referrals and education for children with HIV/AIDS and their families. She resides in Virginia.

Monica Sweeney, M.D., is vice president for medical affairs at Bedford Stuyvesant Family Health Center Inc., in N.Y. Her community has one of the highest HIV infection rates in the country.

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