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1994.02.04 : National Task Force on AIDS Drug Development

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                   Contact: HHS Press Office
Friday, Feb. 4, 1994                             (202) 690-6343

      SHALALA NAMES MEMBERS OF AIDS DRUG DEVELOPMENT TASK FORCE

     HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala today named the members of the
expert panel she has charged with expediting the search for new
therapies for AIDS and the underlying human immunodeficiency virus.

     The new, highly focused National Task Force on AIDS Drug
Development will be headed by Philip R. Lee, M.D., assistant
secretary for health and director of the Public Health Service.

     The panel, whose creation was announced Nov. 30, includes
representatives of government, academia, the pharmaceutical
industry, medicine and the AIDS-affected communities.

     "AIDS now kills an average of 92 Americans a day.  It is
urgent that we expedite the development and use of better drugs. 
I've asked this panel to identify new approaches in research and to
remove any barriers or obstacles to developing effective
treatments,"  Shalala said.

     "We had hundreds of qualified nominees,"  Shalala commented. 
"The people we've selected represent a superb mix of the top people
in the field."

     Shalala added:  "As I said when I announced the creation of
this panel, none of us can guarantee success.  HIV is a vicious and
cunning adversary.  But history will judge us harshly if we fail to
give it our best shot."

     Kristine Gebbie, national AIDS policy coordinator, said the
task force members "bring great diversity of expertise and
perspective" to their mission.

     "I am confident the entire federal government, as well as the
private sector, will be diligent in urgently responding to their
requests for information and their recommendations for action.  No
stone should be left unturned in the task force's work," Gebbie
added.

     The members of the panel are:  

Moises Agosto                      National Minority AIDS Council
Research and Treatment             Washington, D.C.
Advocacy Manager

Arthur Ammann, M.D.                Pediatric AIDS Foundation
Director, Ariel Project            Novato, Calif.

Stephen K. Carter, M.D.            Bristol-Myers Squibb
Senior Vice President              Princeton, N.J.
 Worldwide Clinical Research
 and Development

Ben Cheng                          Project Inform
Information and Advocacy           San Francisco, Calif.
 Associate

Deborah J. Cotton, M.D., M.P.H.    Harvard Medical School
Assistant Professor of Medicine    Boston, Mass.

Mindy Fullilove, Ph.D.             New York State Psychiatric
Research Psychiatrist,             Institute
 HIV Center                        New York, N.Y.

David Ho, M.D.                     Aaron Diamond AIDS Research
Director                           Center
                                   New York, N.Y.

Daniel Hoth, M.D.                  Cell Genesys
Senior Vice President              Foster City, Calif.

David A. Kessler, M.D.             Food and Drug Administration
Commissioner

Philip R. Lee, M.D.,               Department of Health and Human
Assistant Secretary for            Services
 Health

Theresa McGovern                   HIV Law Project
Director                           New York, N.Y.

Charles Nelson                     Morehouse School of Medicine
Laboratory Technician III          Atlanta, Ga.

G. Kirk Raab                       Genentech
CEO                                San Francisco, Calif.

Robert Schooley, M.D.              University of Colorado
Director, Colorado ACTU            Denver, Colo.

Edward Scolnick, M.D.              Merck Research Laboratories
President                          Rahway, N.J.

Peter Staley                       Treatment Action Group
Founding Director                  New York, N.Y.

Harold Varmus, M.D.                National Institutes of Health
Director

Flossie Wong-Staal, Ph.D.          University of California
Professor of Medicine and          San Diego, Calif.
 Biology