News Release

New national preparedness and response
science board members to advise HHS

Federal advisory committee provides guidance to protect health from impacts of disasters

Albuquerque resident Ross D. LeClaire today became one of five experts from outside the federal government to join the National Preparedness and Response Science Board (NPRSB). This federal advisory committee provides advice and guidance to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) and to the HHS Secretary to protect health from impacts of disasters.

LeClaire is the principal at The Translational Bridge LLC in Albuquerque. He is a graduate of the University of Minnesota’s College of Veterinary Medicine in St. Paul, Minnesota, and earned a doctorate in toxicology at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kansas.

“NPRSB members are vital to our operations here in HHS. They bring a wealth of knowledge, expertise, and experience. Over the past eight years, the board has helped us improve federal policies and practices in disaster preparedness and response,” said Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response Nicole Lurie, M.D. “I look forward to working with the new members to build more resilient communities across the nation.”

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.

This federal advisory committee was created under the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act of 2006 and the Public Health Service Act.

Since its inception, the board has provided recommendations on federal disaster preparedness and response issues. In the past year, the board has advised on modernizing and enhancing the nation’s biosurveillance capabilities and how the department and the nation can increase community health resilience.

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.

LeClaire and the other new members replace those whose terms expired today. The additional incoming members are as follows:

• Christina Egan, Ph.D., chief and director of the Biodefense Laboratory at the Wadsworth Center, New York State Department of Health in Albany, New York./li>
• Colonel (Ret.) D. Gray Heppner, M.D., chief scientist in the Medical Division at TASC Inc., headquartered in Chantilly, Virginia.
• Eva K. Lee, Ph.D., professor at the School of Industrial and Systems Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta.
• Sharon A. R. Stanley, Ph.D., R.N., president of the Association of Public Health Nurses, professor at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, and distinguished professor at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland.

Appointed members for a second term are as follows:

• Steven Krug, M.D., head of the Division of Emergency Medicine at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago. Dr. Krug has been reappointed for a three-year term and is serving his first term as a voting member on the NPRSB. He also has been chosen to be the new NPRSB Chair.
• John Bradley, M.D., chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of California, San Diego, and director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego. Dr. Bradley has been reappointed for a three-year term and is serving his first term as a voting member on the NPRSB.

Information about the NPRSB and its meetings is available at: http://www.phe.gov/Preparedness/legal/boards/nbsb/Pages/default.aspx.

To learn more about preparing, responding and recovering from the health impacts of disasters, visit www.phe.gov.