Six experts from outside the federal government will join the National Biodefense Science Board (NBSB) to provide advice and guidance to HHS’ assistant secretary for preparedness and response, and to the HHS Secretary, on preventing, preparing for, and responding to adverse health effects of public health emergencies.
The new members replace members whose terms expire April 30.
The ASPR serves as the Secretary’s principal advisor on bioterrorism and other public health emergencies and coordinates the federal public health and medical response to disasters.
“NBSB members are vital to our operations here in HHS. They bring a wealth of knowledge, expertise, and experience. Over the past six years, the board has helped us improve federal policies and practices in disaster preparedness and response,” said Assistant Secretary Nicole Lurie, M.D. “I look forward to working with the new members in helping to build more resilient communities across the nation.”
The NBSB was created under the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act of 2006 and chartered in May 2007. Since then, the board has provided recommendations on federal disaster preparedness and response issues. In the past year, these issues have included anticipated responsibilities of the Strategic National Stockpile in the year 2020 and cost-effective ways to meet those responsibilities. The stockpile has large quantities of medicine and medical supplies to protect the public if there is a public health emergency, such as a terrorist attack, flu outbreak, or earthquake, severe enough to cause local supplies to run out.
The board has 13 voting members with a broad range of expertise in science, medicine, and public health. There also are voting and non-voting members from federal and state government agencies as deemed appropriate by the HHS Secretary.
Incoming members are as follows:
Virginia Caine, M.D., director of the Marion County Public Health Department in Indianapolis; associate professor of medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, and board member of the National Medical Association.
David Ecker, Ph.D., divisional vice president and a general manager at Ibis Biosciences, Inc., an Abbott company located in Carlsbad, Calif. He is serving his first term as a voting member on the NBSB and has been chosen to be reappointed for an additional three-year term.
Noreen Hynes, M.D., M.P.H., D.T.M.&H., associate professor of medicine and public health, and director of the Geographic Medicine Center of the Division of Infectious Diseases, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore.
Catherine Slemp, M.D., M.P.H., public health consultant. She previously served as West Virginia’s state health officer with the Bureau for Public Health.
Tammy Spain, Ph.D., senior member of the technical staff at the Charles Stark Draper Laboratory, Bioengineering Center at the University of South Florida.
David Weinstock, M.D., assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, Associate Physician at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Affiliated Faculty at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, all Boston.
