NIH Names Three New Members For Advisory Committee on Research on Women's Health

BETHESDA, MD �� Dr. Lorraine Fitzpatrick, Atty. Ruth Katz, and Dr. Barbara Ross-Lee are newly appointed members who will join the NIH Advisory Committee on Research on Women's Health during its eleventh meeting, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.. on Monday, April 10, 2000, in Building 31, Conference Room 10, at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md.

The NIH Revitalization Act of 1993 charges the Advisory Committee with advising the Director of the Office of Research on Women's Health on appropriate research activities to be undertaken by the national research institutes with respect to research on women's health.

Highlights of the Advisory Committee meeting will include scientific and policy presentations related to women's health. Dr. Suzanne Medgyesi-Mitschang, Special Assistant to the Director, NIAAA, will discuss the Governor's Spouses Initiative to Curb Underage Drinking, and Dr. Donna Dean, Special Assistant to the Acting Director, NIH, will provide an overview of NIH activities related to Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

An update on the current status of the inclusion of women and minorities in NIH-supported clinical studies will be provided by Dr. Carl Roth, Associate Director for Scientific Program Opportunities, NHLBI. Dr. Anne Weber, Special Assistant for Research on Female Pelvic Floor Disorders, NICHD, will speak to the ACRWH about current research initiatives on Pelvic Floor Disorders in Women.

This meeting also will welcome the three new members to the committee. "We are delighted to have outstanding individuals join the Advisory Committee. They bring a wealth of exceptional knowledge and experience about women's health," said Vivian W. Pinn, M.D., Director of ORWH, "as well as broad perspectives in women's health research and related policy and legislative issues."

Lorraine A. Fitzpatrick, M.D., is currently Professor of Medicine and Director of the Women's Health Fellowship at Mayo Clinic. She is Associate Editor for technology for the Mayo Clinic Proceedings and Editor of the Calcium Section of the Year Book of Endocrinology. She is also former Editor of the journal, Endocrinology, current Chair of the Media Relations Committee of the Endocrine Society, and a member of the Council for the American Society of Bone and Mineral Research. She has received many professional awards, including the Glenn Foundation Award for Endocrinology and Aging from The Endocrine Society during this past year. She also was elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation. Dr. Fitzpatrick completed her undergraduate degree in Molecular Biology at Wellesley College with honors. After completing her medical degree at the University of Chicago, she became a resident in Internal Medicine at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York. She obtained her specialty training in Endocrinology and Metabolism in the Metabolic Diseases Branch of the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases at NIH. After spending the next several years teaching at the University of Texas in San Antonio, she joined the Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism at the Mayo Clinic and Mayo Foundation.

Also appointed to the committee is Ruth Katz, J.D., Associate Dean for Administration at the Yale University School of Medicine. Ms. Katz is involved in virtually all issues related to the administration of the medical school, including university, faculty and student affairs, as well as budgetary issues, liaison with the university's hospital, and alumni relations. She brings to this position a wealth of experience in the law, policy making on the Federal level, and public health.

Previous to becoming Associate Dean for Administration in July 1997, Ms. Katz served on the Advisory Committee on Tobacco Policy and Public Health, where she conducted policy analysis and produced interim and final reports for the public health committee that had been formed at the request of Members of Congress and charged with developing a comprehensive national policy on tobacco. She was a candidate for election to the U.S. House of Representatives from the Second Congressional District of New Jersey in 1996. She has also served as Director of Public Health Programs of the Henry J. Kaiser Foundation and as Counsel to the Subcommittee on Health and the Environment of the Committee on Energy and Commerce in the U.S. House of Representatives. In the early 1980s, she was Legislative Aide for Health Affairs for Congressman James Scheuer of New York and Policy Analyst and Staff Attorney for the Select Panel for the Promotion of Child Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She has a Master of Public Health degree from the Harvard University School of Public Health, a Juris Doctor degree from Emory University, and a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

The third new member, Barbara Ross-Lee, D.O., has served as Dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine of Ohio University since August 1993. In addition to serving as Dean, Dr. Ross-Lee is a Professor within her institution's Department of Family Medicine. These responsibilities reflect Dr. Ross-Lee's dual commitment to improving the health care provided to families in the United States and to the training of future family health care providers. That commitment is also evidenced by her membership on the boards of several organizations, including the Association for Academic Health Centers, the Primary Care Organizations Consortium on Undergraduate Medical Education for the 21st Century, the National Fund for Medical Education, the Foundation for Appalachian Ohio, Americans Discuss Social Security (a project supported by the Pew Charitable Trusts), the National Rural Health Association, and the Ohio Council of Medical School Deans. Previous to becoming Dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine, Dr .Ross-Lee was Associate Dean for Health Policy and Professor/Chairperson of the Department of Family Medicine at the College of Osteopathic Medicine at Michigan State University. She has also served as Preceptor for the Department of Health Services Management and Policy of the School of Business and Public Management at George Washington University and as Legislative Assistant for Health for Senator Bill Bradley of New Jersey. A Fellow of the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians, she received her Doctor of Osteopathy degree from Michigan State University. She also holds a Master of Arts in Teaching Special Populations and a Bachelor of Science degree from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan.

Other members of the 18-member Advisory Committee include: Katherine L. Alley, M.D., Director of Breast Services, Suburban Hospital Healthcare System, Bethesda, MD; Karen H. Antman, M.D., Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology, Columbia University, New York, NY; George T. Bryan, M.D., Dean Emeritus, School of Medicine, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, TX; Frances J. Dunston, M.D., M.P.H., Chair, Department of Pediatrics, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA; Joseph K. Hurd, M.D., Chairman, Department of Gynecology, Lahey Clinic Medical Center, Burlington, MA; Mary-Claire King, Ph.D., American Cancer Society Research Professor, Departments of Medicine and Genetics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA; Angela Barron McBride, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N., Distinguished Professor and Dean, Indiana University School of Nursing, Indianapolis, IN; John Molina, M.D., Executive Director, Las Fuentes Health Clinic of Guadalupe, Guadalupe, AZ; Linda C. Niessen, D.M.D., M.P.H., Professor and Chair, Department of Public Health Sciences, Baylor College of Dentistry, Dallas, TX; Suzanne Oparil, M.D., Director, Vascular Biology and Hypertension Program, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL; Deborah E. Powell, M.D., Office of Executive Dean, University of Kansas Medical Center, School of Medicine, Kansas City, KS; Rosalie Sagraves, Pharm.D., F.C.C.P., Dean and Professor, College of Pharmacy, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL; Robert A. Wild, M.D., Professor and Chief, Section of Research and Education in Women's Health, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK; Nancy A. Fugate Woods, Ph.D., R.N., F.A.A.N., Dean, School of Nursing, University of Washington, Seattle, WA; and Darlene Yee, Ed.D., CHES, Director and Professor, Gerentology Programs, College of Health and Human Services, San Francisco State University, San Francisco, CA.

For a copy of the full agenda, call 301-402-1770.