I Committee Biosketches
Brian Strom (Chair) is Associate Vice Dean, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Chair and Professor, Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, George S. Pepper Professor of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Professor of medicine, Professor of pharmacology, and Director of the Center for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Pennsylvania. Internationally known for multiple areas of clinical epidemiology, Dr. Strom’s major career interest is pharmacoepidemiology, specifically looking at adverse drug reactions and medical errors. He received his medical degree from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and his master’s of public health from the University of California, Berkeley. He is an Institute of Medicine member and served as a member of the Committee to Review the CDC Anthrax Vaccine Safety and Efficacy Research Program. He was Chair of the Institute’s Committee to Assess the Safety and Efficacy of the Anthrax Vaccine.
Kristine M. Gebbie (Vice Chair) is the Elizabeth Standish Gill Associate Professor of Nursing, Director of the Center for Health Policy, and Director of the Doctor of Nursing Science program at Columbia University School of Nursing. Her teaching and research focus is on health policy and health services, with particular attention to population-based public health services. Prior to Columbia, she was the first White House National AIDS Policy Coordinator (1993-1994) and served 4 years as a Senior Consultant on Public Health Initiatives to the Office of Public Health and Science for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Gebbie is active in
many professional organizations and has served as a member of the Executive Board of the American Public Health Association. Most recently, her completed research includes the first enumeration of the public health workforce in 20 years and the development of core competencies in emergency preparedness for public health workers. Dr. Gebbie received her master’s in nursing from the University of California, Los Angeles, and her doctorate in public health from the University of Michigan School of Public Health. She is a member of the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Gebbie co-chaired the Institute’s Committee on Educating Public Health Professionals for the 21st Century, and is currently chairing the Committee on Establishing a National Cord Blood Stem Cell Bank Program.
Robert Wallace (Vice Chair) is Professor of epidemiology and internal medicine at the University of Iowa Colleges of Public Health and Medicine. He received the Irene Ensminger Stecher Professorship in April 1999 for cancer and heart disease-related research. He was formerly Head of the department of preventive medicine at the University of Iowa College of Medicine and the Director of the University of Iowa Cancer Center. Dr. Wallace’s research interests include cancer epidemiology and prevention; the causes and prevention of chronic, disabling diseases among older persons; women’s health issues; and risk factors for cardiovascular disease. He is a Principal Investigator of several large clinical trials. He received his medical degree from Northwestern University School of Medicine. He is an Institute of Medicine member and currently serves as Chair of the Institute of Medicine’s Medical Follow-up Agency Board.
E. Russell Alexander is Professor Emeritus of epidemiology at the University of Washington School of Public Health, where he has spent much of his career and was the first Chair of the Department of Epidemiology. His prior position was Chief of epidemiology for the Seattle-King County Department of Public Health (1990-1998). Dr. Alexander worked from 1983 to 1989 at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the area of control and prevention of sexually-transmitted diseases. He received his medical degree from the University of Chicago with a clinical specialization in infectious diseases and is certified by the American Board of Pediatrics. Dr. Alexander is a member of the American Epidemiological Society, the Infectious Disease Society of America, and Pediatric Infectious Disease Society. He is also a fellow of the American Public Health Association. Dr. Alexander has participated in an Institute of Medicine (IOM) forum on vaccine safety, and has been a member of four IOM committees, including the Committee on Immunization Finance Policies and Practices and the committee on vaccine safety.
Ronald Bayer is a Professor of sociomedical sciences at the Joseph L. Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University. His work focuses on ethical issues and public health policy, specifically centered on AIDS, as well as tuberculosis policy and tobacco regulations in liberal democracies. Prior to Columbia, Dr. Bayer was Associate for policy studies at The Hastings Center, a research center focused on medical ethics. Dr. Bayer received his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine and serves on the Institute of Medicine’s Board on Health Promotion and Disease Prevention. He has participated in the Institute of Medicine’s Committee on Immunization Safety Review and the committee on the Ryan White CARE Act: Data for Allocation, Planning and Evaluation. In the past, he was a member of the Institute’s Committee on the Elimination of Tuberculosis in the United States.
R. Alta Charo is Associate Dean of the University of Wisconsin Law School, and Professor of law and bioethics at the University of Wisconsin’s law and medical schools. She offers courses on health law, bioethics and biotechnology law, food and drug law, medical ethics, reproductive rights, torts, and legislative drafting. In addition, she sits on the University’s internal bioethics advisory committee and its Institutional Review Board for the protection of human subjects in medical research. Ms. Charo serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Law, Medicine, and Ethics; Cloning: Science and Policy; and the Monash Bioethics Review. Ms. Charo received her law degree from Columbia University School of Law and was a member of the steering committee that founded the International Association for Bioethics. From 1996 to 2001 she served on the National Bioethics Advisory Commission, and she currently serves on the National Academy of Sciences’ Board on Life Sciences.
Thomas Coates is Professor of infectious diseases at the David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles. He was formerly Director and Principal Investigator of Center for AIDS Prevention Studies, Professor of medicine and Director of the behavioral medicine unit at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and Executive Director of the AIDS Research Institute at UCSF. Dr. Coates came to UCSF from Johns Hopkins in 1982. Before that, he was on the faculty of the Stanford Heart Disease Prevention program. His interests and experience focus on the study of disease-related behavior, with an emphasis on interventions to modify behaviors. He is the author of many publications on the effects of antibody testing on high-risk behavior, the efficacy of strategies to modify high-risk behavior, the relationship between psychosocial variables and AIDS-related immune dysfunction, and clinical illness and interventions to reduce high-risk behaviors among seropositive men. Dr. Coates has con-
ducted large-scale clinical trials in the United States, Africa, and South America and has trained both domestic and international postdoctoral fellows. Dr. Coates received his Ph.D. from Stanford University. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine.
Penelope Dennehy is Professor of pediatrics at Brown Medical School and is Director of the division of pediatric infectious diseases at Hasbro Children’s Hospital. She is the Chairperson for the committee on the protection of human subjects at Rhode Island Hospital and is a member of the infection control committee. She is a reviewer for many publications, such as Clinical Infectious Diseases, The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal, and Lancet. She is a fellow of the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the Pediatric Infectious Diseases Society and holds memberships in organizations such as the International Society for Vaccines and American Society for Microbiology. She received her medical degree at Tufts University School of Medicine and is board certified in pediatric infectious diseases. Dr. Dennehy is active in the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Infectious Diseases, as well as the National Institutes of Health Collaborative Antiviral Study Group pediatric enterovirus subcommittee. Her research has included many clinical trials of vaccine and immunobiologics.
Vince Fulginiti is Professor Emeritus of pediatrics at the University of Arizona, as well as Professor Emeritus of pediatrics and Chancellor Emeritus for University of Colorado School of Medicine. While at the University of Colorado, Dr. Fulginiti also worked with the department of preventive medicine and biometrics in the Program in Ethics, Humanities, and Law. One of his major research contributions included running a large clinical program documenting the range of normal and adverse consequences of the smallpox (vaccinia) vaccine. He has held various committee positions, such as: President of the Western Society for Pediatric Research for the American Pediatric Society, member and Chair of the Academy of Pediatrics “Red Book” committee (Committee on Infectious Diseases), and member and Chair of the National Vaccine Advisory Committee for the U.S. Public Health Service. Dr. Fulginiti received both his medical degree and master’s degree from Temple University.
Jay Harper is Medical Director of Employee Health Services at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. His clinical activities involve job placement, medical surveillance and injury evaluations for hospital and university workers, and included providing smallpox vaccinations for lab workers using vaccinia in their research. He was previously Clinical Assistant Professor of Environmental and Occupational Health at the University of Pittsburgh
Graduate School of Public Health. Dr. Harper was also the associate program director for the occupational medicine residency program at the University of Pittsburgh and the clinical director for the program. He is a Fellow of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. He worked as a chemical engineer before medical school. Dr. Harper received his medical degree from West Virginia University and his M.B.A. and M.P.H. from the University of Pittsburgh.
Coleen Kivlahan is Medical Director of Ambulatory Primary Care at Fantus Health Center, Bureau of Health Services, Cook County, Illinois. She was formerly a Professor of family and community medicine at the University of Missouri School of Medicine. She also served as Assistant to the Dean for health policy and as an active clinician at the Family Health Center in Boone County. She was the Associate Chief of Staff of the University of Missouri Health Sciences Center (UMHSC), as well as the Director of the Office of Clinical Outcomes and Medical Management. She has also directed the UMHSC efforts to improve clinical quality at all levels of care. From 1993 to 1996, she was Director of the Missouri Department of Health. Her priorities while Director involved increasing access to effective primary and preventative services and improving the health status of minority populations. From 1989 to 1993, Dr. Kivlahan served as Medical Director of the Missouri Department of Social Services, where she devoted her time to increasing access for the uninsured and developed a statewide network of professionals to ensure high-quality child abuse examinations and child fatality investigations. In addition to her work at the state, Dr. Kivlahan has served as a public health leader at the national and local levels. She received her medical degree from Medical College of Ohio at Toledo.
Jeff Levine is Health Communications Director at American Institutes for Research in Silver Spring, Maryland. Mr. Levine was previously Vice President for Health Media at Ketchum Washington, DC’s health-care practice, where he provided strategic counsel, media training and crisis management services to a variety of clients in the pharmaceutical and medical field. Mr. Levine’s prior work experience includes 10 years as a CNN medical correspondent, where he covered numerous stories on federal health care policy, government regulations, and medical research. Mr. Levine also served as the Washington, DC, bureau chief for WebMD, preparing daily stories on health care and public policy, as well as managing news staff for this large physician and consumer internet health news service. At Porter Novelli, he developed broadcast releases and media strategies for clients in the health industry. Mr. Levine recently served as a consultant to the Institute of Medicine, executing an in-depth analysis to assess the organization’s report
writing process. He holds a master’s degree in journalism from the University of California at Berkeley and a bachelor’s degree in English literature from the University of Colorado.
Kenneth McIntosh is Professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, as well as Professor of immunology and infectious diseases at the Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. McIntosh, who works in the Division of Infectious Disease at Children’s Hospital in Boston, MA, has coauthored studies on the safety and immunologic response to the standard and attenuated smallpox vaccines. His current interest is in the pathogenesis of HIV disease in children and the treatment of HIV infected infants and children. Dr. McIntosh received his medical degree from Harvard University and is certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine. He is currently Vice Chair of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ HIV Vaccine and Prevention Data and Safety Monitoring Board and served on the Institute of Medicine’s Vaccine Safety Committee.
Elizabeth Murane recently retired from being Director of nurses for the Shasta County Public Health Department in Redding, CA. As Director, she was responsible for immunization, tuberculosis, infectious diseases, and maternal, child, and adolescent health programs. Previously, she was a public health nurse for Shasta County Public Health Department and an evening charge nurse for the Shasta Convalescent Hospital. She is a licensed registered nurse in California, as well as being certified in California as a public health nurse. Ms. Murane received her nursing degree from Case Western Reserve University and her master’s degree in nursing education, specializing in maternal child health, at Columbia University’s Teachers’ College.
Peter Rosen is a Professor Emeritus of clinical medicine and surgery and former Director of education in the department of emergency medicine at the University of California, San Diego. He currently also serves as Senior Lecturer in Medicine at the Harvard University School of Medicine and attending emergency physician at the Beth Israel/Deaconess Medical Center, and as Visiting Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Arizona School of Medicine. He is editor-in-chief of the Journal of Emergency Medicine and a consulting editor to Emergindex Microindex. Dr. Rosen received his medical degree from Washington University Medical School. He is a fellow in the American College of Surgeons, a senior board member and consultant with the American Board of Emergency Medicine, and a member of the Institute of Medicine. He served on the National Research Council’s Committee on Science and Technology for Counter Terrorism: Biological Panel. He also chaired the Institute of Medicine’s
Committee on Research and Development Needs for Improved Civilian Medical Response to Chemical or Biological Terrorism Incidents.
William Weston is Professor of dermatology and pediatrics at University of Colorado School of Medicine and Chief of dermatology at The Children’s Hospital in Denver. Dr. Weston ended his 25 year tenure as Chair of the University of Colorado School of Medicine’s dermatology department in 2001. In addition, Dr. Weston received the University of Colorado’s Florence Rena Sabin Award in appreciation for national recognition as a medical educator and public health advocate. He serves as a reviewer for many medical journals including Journal of Clinical Investigation, Journal of Pediatrics, and the Journal of American Academy of Dermatology. He is board certified in dermatology and pediatrics with research interests in cutaneous immunology and virology and pediatric dermatology. Dr. Weston received his medical degree from the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
Robert Woolson is Professor of biostatistics and epidemiology at the Medical University of South Carolina as well as Professor Emeritus of biostatistics at the University of Iowa. He has served as Professor of biostatistics and Associate Dean for research at the University of Iowa’s College of Public Health. Dr. Woolson has been as a member of the FDA Antiviral Drugs Advisory Committee, the NIAID AIDS Data Safety and Monitoring Committee and is currently serving on a data safety and monitoring board for the Department of Veterans Affairs Cooperative Studies Program. He is a member of Delta Omega, the National Honorary Public Health Society and is a fellow in The Royal Statistical Society and of the American Statistical Association. Dr. Woolson’s research interest areas are as follows: analysis and design of longitudinal studies, statistical methods for categorical data, statistical methods in survival data analysis, psychiatric epidemiology/biometry, and clinical trials. He has been Associate Editor for Controlled Clinical Trials and is a member of the editorial board of Statistics in Medicine. Dr. Woolson received his doctorate from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.