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HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today named the 21 members of the Secretary's Council on Public Health Preparedness, which will advise the department on appropriate actions to prepare for and respond to public health emergencies, including acts of bioterrorism.

D. A. Henderson, M.D., the Secretary's principal science advisor for public health preparedness, will chair the Council on Public Health Preparedness. The panel's first meeting will take place Aug. 26-27 in Washington.

"This diverse group of very experienced professionals will be an invaluable resource in the ongoing effort to strengthen our nation's bioterrorism preparedness and response," Secretary Thompson said. "As we continue to build our public health capabilities for emergencies, their input will be an important element in our planning."

Information on the members named to the advisory council follows:

• D. A. Henderson, M.D., M.P.H., founding director of the Center for Civilian Biodefense Studies at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. He is currently Secretary Thompson's principal science advisor for Public Health Preparedness.
• Georges C. Benjamin, M.D., secretary of the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
• Gail H. Cassell, Ph.D., vice president for scientific affairs and Distinguished Lilly Research Scholar for Infectious Diseases at Eli Lilly and Company in Indianapolis, Ind.
• James Chin, M.D., clinical professor of epidemiology at the University of California at Berkeley's School of Public Health in Stockton, Calif.
• Francis Cigarroa, M.D., president of the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in San Antonio, Texas.
• Colleen Conway-Welch, Ph.D., M.S.N., professor and dean of the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing in Nashville, Tenn.
• Donald Fisher, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of the American Medical Group Association in Alexandria, Va.
• Timothy T. Flaherty, M.D., board member of the American Medical Association Board of Trustees. He is from Neenah, Wis.
• Kathleen F. Gensheimer, M.D., M.P.H., state epidemiologist for Maine's Department of Human Services in Augusta, Maine.
• Mary Gilchrist, Ph.D., director of the University of Iowa Hygienic Laboratory in Iowa City, Iowa.
• Margaret Hamburg, M.D., Nuclear Threat Initiative's vice president for Biological Programs in Washington, D.C.
• Dennis G. Maki, M.D., professor of medicine and head of the Infectious Diseases Department of Medicine at the University of Wisconsin Medical School in Madison, Wis.
• Robert A. Malson, J.D., District of Columbia Hospital Association president in Washington, D.C.
• Thomas L. Milne, executive director of the National Association of County and City Health Officials in Washington, D.C.
• Frederick A. Murphy, D.V.M., Ph.D., professor at the University of California, Davis School of Veterinary Medicine in Davis, Calif.
• Michael T. Osterholm, Ph.D., M.P.H., director of the University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy in Minneapolis, Minn.
• William L. Roper, M.D., M.P.H., dean of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health in Chapel Hill, N.C.
• Paul B. Roth, M.D., dean of the School of Medicine and associate vice president for clinical affairs for the Health Science Center at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, N.M.
• Andrew A. Sorensen, Ph.D., president of the University of South Carolina in Columbia, S.C.
• Michael Stocker, M.D., M.P.H., is chief executive officer of Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield in New York City, N.Y.
• Ed Thompson, M.D., M.P.H., state health officer for the Mississippi State Department of Health in Jackson, Miss.

The agenda for the committee's first meeting will include bioterrorism preparedness and response programs, states' preparedness programs, lessons learned from the last fall's anthrax mail attacks, research and development efforts, development of new products related to bioterrorism and public health emergency response planning. The meetings will take place at Loews L'Enfant Plaza Hotel in Washington, starting at 10 a.m. on Aug. 26, and 9 a.m. on Aug. 27.

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