HHS Names Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act appropriated $1.1 billion to the Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER) and also authorized the creation of the Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research. This new Council will coordinate CER and will advise Congress and the President on CER priorities while considering the needs of populations served by federal programs and opportunities to build and expand on current investments and priorities.

On Friday, March 20, 2009, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the 15 members of the Council (visit the HHS website for full biographies on the Council members). The Council represents a diverse set of individuals and agencies which are, or will be, addressing CER; most of its members are clinicians.

The Council members are:

• Anne C. Haddix, Ph.D.
  Chief Policy Officer, Office of Strategy and Innovation
  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Thomas B. Valuck, MD, MHSA, JD
  Medical Officer and Senior Advisor, Center for Medicare Management
  Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
• Peter Delany, Ph.D., LCSW-C
  Director, Office of Applied Studies, SAMHSA
• Carolyn M. Clancy, MD
  Director, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality U.S.
  Department of Health and Human Services
• Deborah Parham Hopson, Ph.D., RN, FAAN
  Associate Administrator, HIV/AIDS Bureau
  Health Resources and Services Administration
• David Hunt, M.D
  Chief Medical Officer, Office of the National Coordinator
• James Scanlon
  Acting Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation
• Elizabeth Nabel, MD
  Director, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
  National Institutes of Health
• Garth N. Graham, MD, M.P.H.
  Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Minority Health
• Jesse L. Goodman, MD, M.P.H.
  Acting Chief Medical Officer, FDA
  Director, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, FDA
• Michael Marge, Ed.D.
  Acting Director, Office on Disability
• Neera Tanden, J.D.
  Counselor Office of the Secretary, HHS 
• Joel Kupersmith, MD
  Chief Research and Development Officer
  Veterans Administration
• Michael Kilpatrick, MD
  Director of Strategic Communications for the Military Health System
  Department of Defense
• Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD, Ph.D.
  Special Advisor for Health Policy
  Office of Management and Budget

To ensure that all voices are heard, the council will hold a public listening session on April 14, 2009. Its deliberations and recommendations will be public and transparent, consistent with all Recovery Act investments as well as the President’s commitment to open government.