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In July 2007, Mark B. McClellan, M.D., Ph.D., Senior Fellow, became the Director of the Engelberg Center for Healthcare Reform at the Brookings Institution. The Center will study ways to provide practical solutions for access, quality and financing challenges facing the U.S. healthcare system. In addition, Dr. McClellan is also the Leonard D. Schaeffer Chair in Health Policy Studies.

Dr. McClellan has a highly distinguished record in public service and in academic research. He is the former administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (2004 – 2006) and the former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration (2002 – 2004). He also served as a member of the President's Council of Economic Advisers and senior director for healthcare policy at the White House (2001 – 2002). In these positions, he developed and implemented major reforms in health policy. These include:

The Medicare prescription drug benefit and other innovative coverage options, including the move from indemnity insurance to personalized, prevention-oriented care;

Innovative approaches to coverage in Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program, including roadmaps that states have used to update and expand coverage and the "Money Follows the Person" initiatives in long-term care;

The development of the FDA's Critical Path initiative, regulatory reforms to modernize pharmaceutical manufacturing, efficient risk-management methods to better address safety issues, and reforms to speed the approval of low-cost generic medicines and improve the availability of safe and effective treatments; and

Public-private initiatives to develop better information on the quality and cost of care, and steps to help consumers and providers use this information to improve care, including performances-based provider payment reforms, and Health Savings Accounts and Health Reimbursement Arrangements.

In the Clinton administration, Dr. McClellan was deputy assistant secretary of the Treasury for economic policy from 1998 – 1999, supervising economic analysis and policy development on a range of domestic policy issues.

Dr. McClellan was also an associate professor of economics and associate professor of medicine (with tenure) at Stanford University, from which he was one leave during his government service. He directed Stanford's Program on Health Outcomes Research and was also associate editor of the Journal of Health Economics, and co-principal investigator of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), a longitudinal study of the health and economic status of older Americans. His academic research has been concerned with the effectiveness of medical treatments in improving health, the economic and policy factors influencing medical treatment decisions and health outcomes, the impact of new technologies on public health and medical expenditures, and the relationship between health status and economic well being. He has twice received the Kenneth J. Arrow Award for Outstanding Research in Health Economics.

Dr. McClellan is a Member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research, and a Visiting Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. A graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, Dr. McClellan earned his M.P.A. from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government in 1991, his M.D. from the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology in 1992, and his Ph.D. in economics from MIT in 1993. He completed his residency training in internal medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston. Dr. McClellan has been board-certified in Internal medicine and has been a practicing internist during his academic career.

Edward Abrahams, Ph.D., Executive Director of the Personalized Medicine Coalition, a non-profit educational and advocacy group representing diverse members with a interest in advancing medical progress through the adoption of personalized medicine concepts and products, brings extensive experience in industry, academia, and government to the position. As former Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Association, Dr. Abrahams managed all aspects of the Association, including public advocacy, media relations, and educational programs, tripling its size and revenues in three years. He also spearheaded the successful effort that led to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's investment of $200 million to commercialize biotechnology in that state. Previously, he had been Assistant Vice President for Federal Relations at the University of Pennsylvania, and also held a senior administrative position at Brown University. Before becoming a university administrator, Dr. Abrahams worked seven years for the United States Congress, including as a legislative assistant to Senator Lloyd Bentsen and as an economist for the Joint Economic Committee under the chairmanship of Congressman Lee Hamilton.

Billy Tauzin was named president and chief executive officer of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) in January 2005 and immediately took up two of the most important causes of his career: To help ensure patients everywhere continue to have access to the miracles of medicines, and to ensure that innovative biopharmaceutical research thrives, improving and saving lives everywhere.

He knows firsthand what patients face as they search for hope, treatment and cures having recently battled cancer himself. This unique insight guides his leadership as PhRMA president where he is helping to develop solutions to America's health care challenges so patients now and in the future have the medicines they need. Throughout a long and distinguished public service career, including 13 terms representing the people of the 3rd Congressional District of Louisiana, Billy Tauzin exhibited a class and leadership style that made him a standout among our nation's elected officials. As a Member of Congress, he was called "knowledgeable and eloquent" by the Almanac of American Politics and "one of the House's savviest members" by National Journal Magazine.

Billy Tauzin began his public service career in the Louisiana State Legislature where he served in a variety of distinguished posts such as Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee and Chief Administration Floor Leader. He was chosen twice as one of Louisiana's "Ten Best Legislators."

He was first elected to the U.S. House in 1980 as a Democrat. Because his conservative views increasingly led him to vote with GOP House members despite his Democratic affiliation, he switched parties in 1995. In 1998, he joined with House Majority Leader Dick Armey to propose a revamping of the tax code.

While in Congress, he held several leadership positions, beginning with his chairmanship of a Merchant Marine Subcommittee, which oversaw legislation related to the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska. In September 1995 he was named Deputy Majority Whip; he is the first American to have been part of the leadership of both parties in the House. In an effort to promote a spirit of bipartisan cooperation on Capitol Hill, he co-founded and served as Co-Chairman of the Mainstream Conservative Alliance, better known as Republican "Blue Dogs."

Until February, 2004, he served as the Chairman of the influential House Committee on Energy and Commerce, which has jurisdiction over all interstate and foreign commerce, including energy, telecommunications, health care, biomedical research, consumer protection, the environment and travel and tourism. During his tenure, he left his mark on issues ranging from natural gas, airline, trucking and electricity deregulation to the Clean Air Act, Superfund and the historic Telecommunications Reform Act of 1996. In addition, he was the original author of the Securities Litigation Reform Act and the Cable Act – the only bills over the past decade to become law despite a Presidential veto. As chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, he helped President George W. Bush win passage of a Medicare prescription drug bill.

Tauzin announced in February 2004 that he would not run for another term. Over the years, Tauzin has been honored by such diverse groups as the Chamber of Commerce, Farm Bureau, National Federal of Independent Business, B'nai B'rith, Concord Coalition, Business Software Alliance, National Association of Manufacturers, Christian Coalition, Boy Scouts of America, National Association of Broadcasters, the 3rd Congressional District Black Caucus, and many more.

Billy Tauzin received a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Nicholls State University in 1964 and a Law Degree from Louisiana State University in 1967.

Bette Keltner, Ph.D., has served as dean of Georgetown University School of Nursing & Health Studies (NHS) since 1999. During her tenure, Dr, Keltner has overseen a substantial growth in the school's research portfolio, the recruitment of high profile scholars, and the continued development of four vibrant academic departments in Health Systems Administration, Human Science, International Health, and Nursing.

Dr. Keltner continues to publish in her field, which involves children with disabilities, maternal health, healthy equity, and health among American Indian communities. She is currently among a group of researchers on a five-year R01 grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to study, "Preventing Child Neglect in High Risk Mothers."

Before Georgetown, Dr. Keltner served from 1997-1999 as assistant vice president for medical and health services at Honda of America Mfg. She has also held appointments at the Civitan International Research Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, California State University, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Dallas, and the University of Wyoming.

From 1997-2000, Dr. Keltner was president of the National Alaska Native American Indian Nurses Association. She remains active in many professional organizations, including membership in the American Association of Mental Retardation, American Public Health Association, National Council of University Research Administrators, Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science, American Nurses Association, American Academy of Nurses, and National Alaska Native American Indian Nurse Association. In 2007, she also became of a member of an advisory council of the Reading Is Fundamental (RIF) Multicultural Literacy Campaign. She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing (FAAN).

Wayne Rosenkrans, Jr., Ph.D., is currently Scientific and Medical Strategy Director for External Scientific Affairs at AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals. In that role he has responsibility for long-range strategy development supporting AstraZeneca's external scientific influencing policy. He is a recipient of the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP) Fellows Award, and a former President of the Society. Previous positions include Global Director, Intelligence Affairs at AstraZeneca, Director – US Intelligence at AstraZeneca, Competitive Technical Intelligence Group Leader and Research Planning Analyst at Zeneca Pharmaceuticals, Director of Strategic Intelligence Systems for Windhover Information, Director of Drug Intelligence Systems Sales and Marketing for Adis International, and Associate Director and Head of Strategic Intelligence for SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals R&D. He has presented at various forums on aspects of strategy development, strategic early warning, and strategic intelligence. He holds an S.B. in Biology from MIT, a Ph.D. in Cell and Molecular Biology from Boston Univ., and received post-doctoral training in Cancer and Radiation Biology at the Univ. of Rochester.

Michael O. Leavitt was sworn in as the 20th Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on January 26, 2005. As secretary, he leads the Nation's efforts to protect the health of all Americans and provide essential human services to those in need. He manages one of the largest civilian departments in the federal government, with a budget that accounts for almost one out of every four federal dollars and more than 67,000 employees.

During his first year, he led efforts to successfully enroll tens of millions of seniors and disabled persons in the new Medicare prescription drug benefit; mobilized the nation's pandemic preparedness; accelerated the development of health information standards and oversaw the medical response to Hurricane Katrina. He also presided over changes in Medicaid statutes to give states flexibility to provide targeted insurance coverage to more people, and reauthorization by Congress, after ten extensions, of the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families.

He is intensively focused on making health care more transparent in quality and price, and reducing the time and expense of bringing safe and effective drugs to market.

Prior to his current service, Leavitt served as head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and three-term Governor of Utah.

During his eleven years of service, Utah was recognized six times as one of America's best managed states. He was chosen by his peers as Chairman of the National Governors Association, Western Governors Association and Republican Governors.

Prior to his public service, he served as president and chief executive officer of a regional insurance firm, establishing it as one of the top insurance brokers in America

Carolyn M. Clancy, M.D., was appointed Director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) on February 5, 2003. Prior to her appointment, Dr. Clancy had served as AHRQ's Acting Director since March 2002 and previously was Director of the Agency's Center for Outcomes and Effectiveness Research (COER).

Dr. Clancy, who is a general internist and health services researcher, is a graduate of Boston College and the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Following clinical training in internal medicine, Dr. Clancy was a Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania. She was also an assistant professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at the Medical College of Virginia in Richmond before joining AHRQ in 1990.

Dr. Clancy holds an academic appointment at George Washington University School of Medicine (Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Medicine) and serves as Senior Associate Editor, Health Services Research. Dr. Clancy has served on multiple editorial boards (currently Annals of Family Medicine, American Journal of Medical Quality, and Medical Care Research and Review). Dr. Clancy has published widely in peer reviewed journals and has edited or contributed to seven books. She is a member of the Institute of Medicine and was elected a Master of the American College of Physicians in 2004.

Her major research interests include various dimensions of health care quality and patient, including women's health, primary care, access to care services, and the impact of financial incentives on physicians' decisions.

Janet Woodcock, M.D., is Deputy Commissioner and the Chief Medical Officer, FDA. She oversees scientific and medical regulatory operations for FDA. Dr. Woodcock most recently served as the Deputy Commissioner for Operations and Chief Operating Officer, FDA 2005-2007. Dr. Woodcock served as Director, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research at FDA 1994-2005. She previously served in other positions at FDA including Director, Office of Therapeutics Research and Review and Acting Deputy Director, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. Dr. Woodcock received her M.D. from Northwestern Medical School, and completed further training and held teaching appointments at the Pennsylvania State University and the University of California in San Francisco. She joined FDA in 1986.

Dan Mendelson, M.P.P., is President and founder of Avalere Health. Avalere Health provides strategic consulting, analytic due diligence, and policy guidance for clients in industry, government, and the not-for-profit sector. Based in Washington D.C., the firm focuses on the intersection between public policy and business strategy. Avalere Health also completes objective, analytic policy research funded by major medical foundations. The firm employs a wealth of talented consultants with backgrounds in government and industry. Mr. Mendelson is also currently Adjunct Professor of Business Administration at The Fuqua School of Business at Duke University.

From 1998 to 2000, Mr. Mendelson served as Associate Director for Health at the Office of Management and Budget, the White House office responsible for creating the President's budget and for policy coordination across the Administration. He supervised a staff of 75, and was responsible for the full healthcare portfolio including Medicare, Medicaid, NIH, CDC, and FDA. His work included development of the Administration's pharmaceutical benefit, Presidential initiatives in health information technology and medical error prevention, the electronic disease surveillance system, and federal policies in reimbursement and technology assessment.

Prior to joining OMB, Mendelson was Senior Vice President of The Lewin Group and Director of the Medical Technology Practice. During his eight-year tenure he had a range of responsibilities, including management of a transnational pharmaceutical and medical device consulting practice. Between 1994 and 1996 he was also closely involved in the operations of Value Rx, a pharmacy benefit management company (PBM). He also actively assisted both Value Health and Quintiles Transnational in due diligence on acquisitions.

Mendelson has published widely in peer-reviewed and professional journals on health information technology, the costs of disease, hospital costs and operations, physician payment, the economics of managed care, medical malpractice, and a range of other topics in healthcare policy and business. He holds an undergraduate degree in economics and viola performance from Oberlin College, and a Masters in Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University.

Charles H. Evans, Jr., M.D., Ph.D., is a professor and chair of the Department of Human Science at Georgetown University School of Nursing & Health Studies. A pediatrician and immunologist, Dr. Evans received his B.S. in biology from Union College (NY), and his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Virginia. His advanced training in pediatrics was at the University of Virginia Medical Center. Following his postgraduate training, he was appointed to the National Institutes of Health intramural staff as a principal investigator. From 1975-1998, as a physician scientist, he served as Chief of the Tumor Biology Section at the National Cancer Institute and as a Captain in the U.S. Public Health Service Commissioned Officers Corps at the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Evans research interests are carcinogenesis (the etiology of cancer), the normal immune system defenses to the development of cancer, and methodology in clinical trials with small numbers of participants, e.g. space medicine and astronaut healthcare, and mentoring in adolescence. While at NIH, he discovered the ability of cytokines to directly prevent carcinogenesis and was the first to isolate a direct acting anticarcinogenic cytokine for which he was awarded four U.S. patents. From 1998 to 2002, he served as head of the Health Sciences Section, as sr. adviser for biomedical and clinical research, and as scholar in residence in the Institute of Medicine at the National Academy of Sciences.

Dr. Evans is an author of more than 125 scientific articles and is the recipient of numerous scientific awards, including the Outstanding Service Medal and the Commendation Medal of the U.S. Public Health Service and the Wellcome Medal and Prize. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Institute of Chemists, and is a credentialed Fellow in Health Systems Administration of the American Academy of Medical Administrators. An active advisor to community medicine and higher education, he has served on the Board of Trustees of Suburban Hospital Health System and on the College of Arts & Sciences Board of Trustees at the University of Virginia. He is a member of several astronaut healthcare and space medicine National Aeronautics and Space Administration advisory committees. At Georgetown University, he teaches undergraduate courses in health science communication, principles of research design and scientific integrity, and physiological adaptation to space travel.

Raymond Woosley, M.D., Ph.D. is the founding President and Chairman of the Board of The Critical Path Institute (C-Path). Dr. Woosley is also the Director of the Arizona Center for Education and Research on Therapeutics that is funded by a grant to C-Path from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Prior to founding C-Path, Dr. Woosley was Vice President for The University of Arizona (UA) Health Sciences Center and Dean of the UA College of Medicine. He was Associate Dean for Clinical Research and Chair of the Department of Pharmacology at Georgetown University School of Medicine. Dr. Woosley was a professor at Vanderbilt University Medical School and was one of the first scientists at Meyer Laboratories, now GlaxoSmithKline. Dr. Woosley earned his Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Louisville, his M.D. from the University of Miami and completed post-doctoral training in pharmacology, internal medicine and clinical pharmacology. His research has been published in over 265 peer-reviewed publications and 50 book chapters.

Julie DeLoia, Ph.D., joined Georgetown University School of Nursing & Health Studies (NHS) in August 2007. In her role at NHS, Dr. DeLoia participates as a senior academic and executive member of the school's leadership team. She oversees the Office of Student Academic Affairs and coordinates educational programs across the school's four departments, ensuring consistency and quality in service in an effort to advance and advocate for departmental priorities, faculty members, and students.

Before Georgetown, Dr. DeLoia held various academic appointments and leadership positions at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Her research specialty is in the area of cancer genetics, particularly related to ovarian cancer. She was instrumental in founding the University of Pittsburgh's Ovarian Cancer Center. She also has published more than 35 peer-reviewed articles and served as principal investigator on two R01 grants of the National Institutes of Health.

In addition, she managed course direction for first- and second-year medical students and worked closely with faculty on curriculum evaluation and revision. She chaired departmental faculty development, worked with the school's dean of faculty affairs to create a mentoring workshop for senior faculty, and created a mentor network for advising junior faculty.

Dr. DeLoia earned her Ph.D. in human genetics from the Johns Hopkins University and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania in developmental genetics.

From 1992 to 1999, George Poste, D.V.M., Ph.D., D.Sc., F.R.S., was Chief Science and Technology Officer and President of Research & Development for one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world, SmithKline Beecham. In an industry where bringing a single drug to market makes careers, Poste oversaw registration of 31 drug, vaccine and diagnostic products. In addition to his academic post, he serves as Chief Executive of Health Technology Networks, a consulting company that specializes in the application of genomic technologies and computing in healthcare.

He is a Fellow of the Royal Society, and the UK Academy of Medicine, a Distinguished Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and is a member of the Council for Foreign Relations. In the wake of the 9-11 terrorist attacks, Poste's expertise was tapped extensively to aid national security. He served as chairman of the task force on bioterrorism for the U.S. Department of Defense, and currently serves as a member of the Threat Reduction Advisory Committee for the Defense Threat Reduction Agency.

He also serves as a member of the National Academy Sciences Working Group on Biological Weapons, the Forum on Microbial Threats of the Institute of Medicine Board on Global Health and the Institute of Medicine Committee on Advances in Technology and Next Generation Biowarfare Threats. He is Non-Executive Chairman of Orchid Biosciences in Princeton and has served on numerous boards, with current appointments on the Board of Directors for both Monsanto and Exelixis.

His first doctorate was in veterinary medicine from the University of Bristol, England, where he graduated first in his class. He also holds a doctorate in virology and a doctorate of science. Dr. Poste has received honorary doctorates in law and science for his contributions to international health policy and is board certified in pathology.

Prior to joining Windhover in 2005, Cole Werble was an independent consultant to the pharmaceutical and health products industries. For 26 years, Werble was owner and editorial director of FDC Reports, Inc., the publisher of "The Pink Sheet," "The Gray Sheet," and other leading news publications for the pharmaceutical industry. Werble is a 1973 Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Williams College and holds an MA (1974) from the University of Chicago.

Mara Aspinall is the President of Genzyme Genetics, a leading worldwide provider of testing and consultative services. Genzyme Genetics is a division of Genzyme Corporation, one of the world's largest biotechnology firms with more than 8,500 employees and more than $3 billion in revenue. Under Mara's leadership, Genzyme Genetics successfully completed and integrated four acquisitions, expanded its research and development programs, and initiated new programs for community outreach and education. Mara is a frequent speaker in the area of personalized medicine and convergence of diagnostics and pharmaceuticals.

In addition to her current role, she has also served as president of Genzyme Pharmaceuticals and as Genzyme's vice president of corporate development. Prior to joining Genzyme, Mara was Director of Client Services at Hale and Dorr LLC, and was responsible for the firm's worldwide practice and development, strategic planning and marketing.

Mara started her business career at Bain & Company, an international strategic consulting firm. At Bain, she specialized in developing and implementing business strategies for health care product and service companies.

Mara is also actively involved in the Boston community, with a focus on the fight against cancer, and expanding educational opportunities for young children. Mara serves as Trustee on the Board of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. She earned her undergraduate degree at Tufts University and her MBA from Harvard Business School.

Kevin FitzGerald, S.J., Ph.D., research associate professor in the Department of Oncology at Georgetown University Medical Center, came to Georgetown from a position at Loyola University Medical Center in Illinois. He received a Ph.D. in molecular genetics and a Ph.D. in bioethics from Georgetown University. During his five years at Loyola, his research efforts focused on the investigation of abnormal gene regulation in cancer and research on ethical issues in human genetics. He has published both scientific and ethical articles in peer-reviewed journals, books, and the popular press.

Fr. FitzGerald has given presentations nationally and internationally and has often been interviewed by the news media on topics such as human genetic engineering, cloning, stem cell research, and the Human Genome Project. For the past 10 years he has served as an ethics consultant for the National Society of Genetic Counselors. He is a consultant to the March of Dimes Ethics Committee and the United States Catholic Conference, and is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Program of Dialogue on Science, Ethics, and Religion. In July 2004, Fr. FitzGerald was named to the external Biotechnology Advisory Panel of the DuPont Corporation.

Michael McGinnis, M.D., M.P.P., joined the Institute of Medicine as Senior Scholar in 2005, to help the IOM explore the development of a program of activity focused on evidence-based medicine and the expansion of clinical effectiveness studies. From 1999 to 2005, he served as Senior Vice President and founding Director of the Health Group, and as Counselor to the President, at The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Much of his career has been spent as participant and leader in national policy in disease prevention and health promotion, including continuous appointment, from 1977 to 1995, as Assistant Surgeon General and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Health (Disease Prevention and Health Promotion) through the Carter, Reagan, Bush and Clinton Administrations. During this period, he led the development of Healthy People, the nation's prevention agenda, and the creation of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a body that has for two decades evaluated the effectiveness of clinical preventive services and pioneered the advance of evidence-based medicine.

Other programs and policies launched at his initiative include: the first HHS/USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans, now in its 5th edition (1st edition co-produced with USDA in 1980) and the first Surgeon General's Report on Nutrition and Health (1988); the work of the Public Health Functions Steering Committee to develop the 10 Essential Services of Public Health; the RWJF Health & Society Scholars Program; the RWJF Young Epidemiology Scholars Program; and the RWJF Active Living family of programs.

His current Board memberships include: the National Academies IOM Committee on Children's Food Marketing (Chair); the NIH State-of-the-Science Conference on Multivitamins in Chronic Disease Prevention (Chair); the Health Professionals Roundtable on Preventive Services (Chair); the FDA Food Advisory Committee, Subcommittee on Nutrition; and the Board of Trustees of the United Way of the National Capital Area (Chair, Resource Development).

Richard Platt, M.D., M.S.', research focuses on the epidemiology, consequences, and prevention of nosocomial infections; on infectious diseases in the community setting; and pharmacoepidemiology. Much of his current work involves the use of large health maintenance organizations' defined populations, extensive and often automated data, and their ability to make system-wide interventions. Recent research has involved developing consortia of such HMOs for this purpose.

Specific recent topics include:

Development of population-based methods for assessment of healthcare-associated infections, tuberculosis, and sexually transmitted diseases.

The use of prescription drugs, their effectiveness, and adverse reactions.

Neonatal group B streptococcal infection.

Reducing inappropriate antibiotic prescribing in hospital and ambulatory settings and assessing the impact of these changes on health outcomes.

Jennifer Bright, M.P.A., leads the efforts of the National Working Group on Evidence-Based Healthcare. Launched in January 2006, the Working Group represents patient organizations, caregivers, physicians and consumers who are committed to promoting accurate and appropriate evidence-based policies and practices that improve the quality of healthcare services in the United States. The Working Group seeks to promote participation by stakeholders in the review and dissemination of evidence and the formulation of public policy based on science, clinician expertise and patient values. Its mission is educating stakeholders, facilitating engagement in evidence-based healthcare initiatives and dialogue and promoting inclusion of patient/consumer and caregiver contributions and perspectives in all aspects of evidence generation, translation, dissemination and implementation to the practice of medical care.

Ms. Bright is currently the Executive Director for the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), a professional society of clinical experts in hospital infection control and epidemiology. Prior to joining SHEA, Ms. Bright was Vice President at Mental Health America, where she oversaw policy initiatives affecting patients/consumers and families for over six years. Her past career experience in state government relations and consulting with Stateside Associates and Booz-Allen & Hamilton has focused on a variety of health policy issues including information privacy, screening, medical technology, adverse event reporting, FDA reform, Medicaid and Medicare, mental health, insurance reform, health IT, and scope of practice issues.

She received her bachelor's degree in Political Science from Trinity College, Washington, D.C., and a Masters of Public Administration from The George Washington University.

Barbara J. Culliton joined the policy journal Health Affairs as Deputy Editor in the fall of 2005 and is now Contributing Editor for special biomedical projects. She is also launchingThe Culliton Group, an independent consulting firm. Prior to joining Health Affairs, she was editor in chief of the Genome News Network (www.genomenewsnetwork.org), an online news magazine she founded at Celera Genomics in 1999 and was subsequently published by The Center for the Advancement of Genomics. She spent 18 years as a reporter and news editor at Science, and then became Deputy Editor of Nature in 1991. She launched Nature Genetics, Nature Structural Biology, and Nature Medicine. Among her many advisory positions, she is currently a member of the Board of Advisors at the Institute of Human Virology, University of Maryland; chair of the National Academies Communication Awards; and was elected to membership in the Institute of Medicine in 1989 and served on its governing council for six years.

Dan Roden, M.D., is the principal investigator for The Pharmacogenomics of Arrhythmia Therapy (PAT) Center (U01 HL65962.) He is responsible for overall coordination of the project.

Abnormalities of cardiac rhythm are a common and serious public health problem. However, the therapies used to treat arrhythmias are often ineffective, and can sometimes even exacerbate arrhythmias. Research in Dr. Roden's laboratory is directed at elucidating mechanisms underlying abnormalities of cardiac rhythm and mechanisms underlying variable responses to antiarrhythmic drug treatments. Since antiarrhythmic drugs affect the function of cardiac ion channels, one working hypothesis in Dr. Roden's laboratory is that variable responses to drug therapy may reflect variable function or expression of genes encoding ion channels or proteins involved in drug disposition.

Some of the questions explored relate to mechanisms underlying variable ion channel expression and function and to frequency and functional characterization of DNA variants in ion channel (and other) genes. In vitro cellular electrophysiology, animal models in mouse and zebrafish are used for studying these mechanisms. These models lend themselves easily to gene manipulation. In concert with studies in human beings to identify mechanisms underlying abnormal rhythms or variable responses to drug therapy ("pharmacogenomics"), a comprehensive approach is applied to explore possible solutions.

Lewis G. Sandy, M.D., is Senior Vice President, Clinical Advancement, UnitedHealth Group. At UnitedHealth Group, a diversified health and well-being company, he leads efforts to promote efficient and effective health care, provide tools and information to doctors and patients to promote health, and foster the growth of evidence-based medicine. From 2003 to 2007, he was Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of UnitedHealthcare, UnitedHealth Group's largest business focusing on the commercial health benefits market. From 1997 to 2003, he was Executive Vice President of The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the nation's largest health-focused private foundation. At RWJF, he was responsible for the Foundation's program development and management, strategic planning and administrative operations. Prior to this, Sandy was a program vice president of the Foundation, and an active grantmaker in the Foundation's workforce, health policy, and chronic care initiatives. An internist and former health center medical director at the Harvard Community Health Plan in Boston, Massachusetts, Sandy received his B.S. and M.D. degrees from the University of Michigan and an M.B.A. degree from Stanford University. A former Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholar and Clinical Fellow in Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, Sandy served his internship and residency at the Beth Israel Hospital in Boston. He is a Senior Fellow of the University of Minnesota School of Public Health, Department of Health Policy and Management.

Dr. Downing was appointed in March 2006 as Program Director for the United States Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Michael O. Leavitt's priority initiative for Personalized Heath Care. In this role, he coordinates trans-agency programs for the analysis, planning and implementation of policies and systems to facilitate adoption of personalized health care.

Dr. Downing has previously served as Director of the Center for Strategic Science and Technology Initiatives in the Office of the Director at the National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institutes of Health (NIH); Director of the NCI's Office of Technology and Industrial Relations (OTIR); Special Assistant to the Deputy Director for Extramural Research in the Office of the Director of NIH; and as Health Science Policy Analyst in the Office of Science Policy and Planning at NIH.

Dr. Downing began his career at the NIH in 1994 as a fellow at the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development. Today, he continues to lead the implementation of training and programs that support the research policy goals of the NIH.

Dr. Downing earned his medical degree from Michigan State University and his Ph.D. in pharmacology from the University of Kansas. He completed his residency in pediatrics and fellowship in neonatology before joining the faculty of the University of Missouri-Kansas City in the Department of Neonatology at The Children's Mercy Hospital. Dr. Downing is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics in pediatrics and neonatology — perinatal medicine.