NIH Appoints Members to the National Commission
on Digestive Diseases
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Elias A. Zerhouni,
M.D., today announced the names of the newly appointed members
of the National Commission on Digestive Diseases, which is charged
with conducting an overview of research in digestive diseases and
developing a strategic plan for the next ten years of NIH digestive
diseases research.
“The new members of the National Commission on Digestive Diseases
bring a wealth of expertise in both basic and clinical digestive
diseases research that will not only help NIH review the current
state of its research, but ultimately lay the groundwork for research
for the next decade and beyond. I am very pleased to welcome them
to the Commission,” said Dr. Zerhouni.
The Commission is composed of 16 members who are appointed for
the duration of the Commission by the Director of the NIH. The
members have broad expertise as members of academic or medical
research and practice communities involved in digestive diseases
research, patient-oriented organizations or have close personal
or family experience with digestive diseases.
“As we embark upon this planning process for digestive diseases,
the cross-section of scientific and professional knowledge represented
by the new members will play a crucial role in initiating, evaluating,
and completing this process,” said Stephen P. James, M.D., Chair
of the Commission and Director of the Division of Digestive Diseases
and Nutrition (DDN) at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive
and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), one of the institutes of the NIH.
The appointed members are:
- Bruce R. Bacon, M.D., Director, Division of Gastroenterology
and Hepatology, St. Louis University School of Medicine, St.
Louis, Missouri
- Barbara L. Bass, M.D., Carolyn and John Bookout Chair, Department
of Surgery, The Methodist Hospital, Houston, Texas
- Richard S. Blumberg, M.D., Chief, Gastroenterology Division,
Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts
- John M. Carethers, M.D., Gastroenterology Section Chief, Veterans
Administration San Diego Healthcare System, San Diego, California
- Maurice A. Cerulli, M.D., Chief, Division of Gastroenterology
and Hepatology, New York Methodist Hospital, Brooklyn, New York
- Eugene B. Chang, M.D., Martin Boyer Professor of Medicine,
University of Chicago, Chicago , Illinois
- Mitchell B. Cohen, M.D., Director, Division of Gastroenterology,
Hepatology and Nutrition, Children’s Hospital Medical Center,
Cincinnati, Ohio
- Margaret M. Heitkemper, R.N., Ph.D., Chair, Department of Biobehavioral
Nursing and Health Systems, University of Washington, Seattle,
Washington
- Jane M. Holt, Co-President, National Pancreas Foundation, Boston,
Massachusetts
- David A. Lieberman, M.D., Professor and Chief, Division of
Gastroenterology, Department of Medicine, Oregon Health Sciences
University, Portland, Oregon
- Nancy J. Norton, B.S., Founder and President, International
Foundation for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders, Milwaukee,
Wisconsin
- Pankaj J. Pasricha, M.D., Chief, Division of Gastroenterology
and Hepatology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston,
Texas
- Daniel K. Podolsky, M.D., Professor of Medicine and Chief,
Gastrointestinal Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston,
Massachusetts
- Kenton M. Sanders, Ph.D., Professor and Chairman, Department
of Physiology and Cell Biology, University of Nevada School of
Medicine, Reno, Nevada
- Robert S. Sandler, MPH, M.D., Professor, Division of Digestive
Diseases and Nutrition, Department of Medicine, University of
North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina
- Joanne A.P. Wilson, M.D., Professor, Department of Medicine,
Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina
In addition to the 16 appointed members, the Commission includes
several nonvoting ex officio members from the NIH and
other federal government agencies involved in digestive diseases
research. For more information on the roster of appointed and ex
officio members and the Commission charter, visit the Commission
web site at: http://NCDD.niddk.nih.gov.
The Commission will hold its first meeting on June 12, 2006. Subsequent
meetings will be held as needed and called by the Chair. A government
official will attend all meetings, and all meetings are open to
the public except as decided by the Director, NIH.
“From hepatitis to inflammatory bowel disease, basic and clinical
research have helped to improve how we diagnose and treat patients
with digestive diseases. Now, through the work of the Commission,
we are posed to further advance digestive diseases research well
into the 21st century,” said Griffin Rodgers, M.D., Acting Director,
NIDDK.
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 http://www.nih.gov. |