Biographical Sketches
Uta Francke, M.D. (Chair), is Professor of Genetics at Stanford University School of Medicine and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. She serves as the Director of the American Board of Medical Genetics accredited Interdepartmental Training Program in Medical Genetics and as a medical genetics consultant on the staff of Stanford Health Services and Lucile Salter Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford. Previously, Dr. Francke was Professor of Human Genetics and Pediatrics at the Yale University School of Medicine. Dr. Francke directs a research laboratory working on the molecular basis of inherited disorders. As a member of the Institute of Medicine, Dr. Francke served as chair of the Conference on Fetal Research and Applications. She is also a founding member of the American College of Medical Genetics, and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Dr. Francke has served on the Board of Directors of the American Society of Human Genetics and the American Board of Medical Genetics and on the Panel to Assess NIH Investment in Gene Therapy Research. Dr. Francke received her M.D. degree from the University of Munich, Germany, and trained in pediatrics and medical genetics at Children's Hospital of Los Angeles and the University of California at Los Angeles and San Diego.
Judith Areen, J.D., is Executive Vice President for Law Affairs of Georgetown University and Dean of the Law Center. Dean Areen's areas of academic expertise include family law; constitutional law; and law, medicine,
and ethics. Dean Areen is a graduate of Cornell University (1966) and the Yale Law School (1969), where she was a member of the Editorial Board of the Yale Law Journal. Between 1977 and 1980, she served in the Office of Management and Budget as Director of the Federal Legal Representation Project. She then became General Counsel to President Carter's Reorganization Project. She served as Special Counsel to the White House Task Force on Regulatory Reform during the same period. Dean Areen, who is a member of the bar of the District of Columbia, is a Senior Research Fellow of the Kennedy Institute of Ethics, is a member of the American Law Institute, and is on the Advisory Committee to the Secretary of Defense on Women in the Services.
Jay C. Bisgard, M.D., is Director of Health Services for Delta Air Lines, Inc. Dr. Bisgard received his B.A. and M.D. degrees from Northwestern University and his M.P.H. degree from Harvard University. He spent 20 years on active duty in the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force, retiring as a colonel. Dr. Bisgard has also served as a deputy assistant secretary of defense and as the corporate medical director for ARCO, GTE, and Pacific Bell. His primary interests in both his military and civilian careers have been health policy and resource management. Dr. Bisgard is certified in aerospace medicine by the American Board of Preventive Medicine and is a fellow of the American College of Physician Executives, the Aerospace Medical Association, and the American College of Preventive Medicine.
Carlo M. Croce, M.D., is Director of the Kimmel Cancer Center of Thomas Jefferson University Medical College. Dr. Croce received his M.D. degree from the University of Rome in 1969. He joined the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia in 1970 as a postdoctoral fellow and then as a faculty member. In 1978 he became a full professor, and in 1980 he became an institute professor and associate director at Wistar, where he stayed until 1988. Between 1980 and 1988 he was also Wistar Professor of Human Genetics and of Pediatric Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. In 1988 he became the Director of the Fels Institute for Cancer Research in Philadelphia. In 1991 he joined the Thomas Jefferson University Medical College as chairman of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology and director of the Cancer Center and of the Cancer Institute. Dr. Croce is the author of approximately 500 papers on human genetics, somatic cell genetics, and cancer genetics. He is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Outstanding Investigator Award from the National Cancer Institute, the Rosenthal Award from the American Association for Cancer Research, the Mott Prize from the General Motors Cancer Research Foundation, the John Scott Award, and the Pawarow Award. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and, since 1990, editor-in-chief of Cancer Research.
Kay Dickersin, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, with joint appointments in ophthalmology and the Program in Oncology, as well as an adjunct appointment at the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health. Dr. Dickersin is also the Director of the Baltimore Cochrane Center. She received her BA in Zoology and MA in Zoology (Cell Biology) from the University of California at Berkeley and her Ph.D. in epidemiology from the Johns Hopkins University School of Hygiene and Public Health. Her major research interests are related to randomized clinical trials, meta-analysis, publication bias, and the development and utilization of methods for the evaluation of medical care and its effectiveness. Dr. Dickersin has served on several Institute of Medicine (IOM) committees, including the Vaccine Safety Committee, the Drug Forum, the Committee on Defense Women's Health Research, and the 1993 Committee to Advise the Department of Defense on its FY 1993 Breast Cancer Program. Dr. Dickersin served on the Department of the Army's Breast Cancer Research Program Integration Panel (1993—present), and on an Integration Panel Subcommittee charged with evaluating the impact of consumers on Army study sections. She is a member of the National Cancer Advisory Board and serves on the Steering Committee for the National Action Plan, where she co-chairs the Clinical Trials Working Group. Dr. Dickersin also serves or has served on several data monitoring committees for national and international clinical trials.
Rhetaugh G. Dumas, Ph.D., RN, is Vice Provost for Health Affairs at the University of Michigan and Lucille Cole Professor of Nursing at the University of Michigan School of Nursing, where she also served for 13 years as Dean. Previously, she was the Deputy Director if the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Prior to her position with NIMH, Dr. Dumas was at Yale University, where she conducted the first clinical research experiments in nursing practice. Dr. Dumas is the recipient of numerous honors and awards recognizing professional leadership and outstanding achievements in scholarly endeavors and community service. She is a member of the Institute of Medicine, a member of President Clinton's National Bioethics Advisory Commission, a charter fellow of the American Academy of Nursing, President-elect of the National League for Nursing, and recipient of the National Women's Hall of Fame President's 21st Century Award. Dr. Dumas is the recipient of ten honorary degrees. Having served as a mentor to numerous professional leaders within and outside the nursing profession, she is an ardent advocate of excellence in scholarship, research, and clinical practice across the health professions. Dr. Dumas holds a B.S. degree in nursing from Dillard University, New Orleans; an M.S. in
Psychiatric Nursing from Yale University; and a Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the Union Institute of Cincinnati, Ohio.
William H. Hindle, M.D., is Professor of Clinical Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Southern California, and director and founder of the Breast Diagnostic Center located at Women's and Children's Hospital in Los Angeles County and University of Southern California Medical Center, where he established one of the first all-inclusive training programs for obstetrics and gynecology residents in the evaluation and treatment of breast disorders. He received his M.D. from the Yale University School of Medicine and his specialty medical training in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is the author and editor of a comprehensive medical textbook for obstetrician/gynecologists entitled Breast Disease for Gynecologists. In Hawaii, where he previously practiced and served as president of the Hawaii Medical Association, his work in the field of population studies, family planning, and women's health care was acknowledged by awards of appreciation from the American Cancer Society, the governor, and the state legislature.
Debra J. Lerner, Ph.D., is a scientist with the Health Institute, an internationally renowned outcomes research center, where she codirects the Health Institute's research program on work and health. A medical sociologist and health services researcher, she holds a doctorate in sociology from Boston University and a master's of science degree in health planning/administration from the University of Cincinnati. Dr. Lerner's research is investigating the relationship of the psychosocial work environment with functional health status and work disability, addressing the relationships between chronic illness, work conditions, and work outcomes, encompassing health-related quality-of-life issues. She has recently completed a national survey of work limitations and has also developed three condition-specific work limitation questionnaires and is currently testing a generic version. These questionnaires will be used for treatment effectiveness studies, clinical trials, and population health surveys.
Beryl McCormick, M.D., is a radiation oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Associate Professor at Cornell University Medical College. She holds a B.A. degree in political science from Douglass College and an M.D. degree from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. After completing her postgraduate training in radiation oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, she worked for several years at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine before returning to Memorial Hospital in 1980. Since that time, both her clinical work and research have been limited to patients with cancer of the breast and of the eye. She is the author of more than
100 articles, including book chapters and editorials, on these subjects. Dr. McCormick's main interest remains in patient care, for which she has won recognition in the national press, including being named to the ''best doctors" lists of publications such as Good Housekeeping . She is the chairperson of the Breast Committee for the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group and has recently served on the breast cancer treatment guidelines committees of both the National Comprehensive Cancer Network and the American College of Radiology.
Robert S. McDonough, M.D., J.D., is Senior Consultant and Medical Director in the Technology Assessment and Clinical Guidelines Unit of Aetna U.S. Healthcare's Clinical Policy and Research Department. He has special interests in preventive health services and outcomes research. He is a former senior analyst and project director with the Health Program of the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment. Among the projects he directed at OTA were "Effectiveness and Costs of Osteoporosis Screening and Hormone Replacement Therapy" (September 1995), "Adverse Reactions to HIV Vaccines: Medical, Ethical, and Legal Issues" (August 1995), and "Drug Labeling in Developing Countries" (February 1993). He is a graduate of Duke University School of Medicine and School of Law and has a master's degree in policy analysis from Duke's Sanford Institute of Public Policy. He completed an internship in internal medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine, and is a fellow of the American College of Legal Medicine.
Beth Overmoyer, M.D., is Director of the Breast Cancer Program in the Department of Hematology/Oncology at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, where she administers a comprehensive program that includes coordinated care of breast cancer patients involving all subspecialties (surgery, medical oncology, radiation oncology, plastic surgery) and conducts an active research program involving breast cancer prevention and treatment of early-stage and advanced disease. Dr. Overmoyer designed and implemented one of the first high-dose chemotherapy and autologous bone marrow transplantation protocols applied to women with metastatic breast carcinoma. She is currently principal investigator on several multi-institutional clinical studies investigating new chemotherapeutic treatments with and without stem cell rescue, as well as the quality of life and coping mechanisms related to autologous bone marrow transplantation in breast cancer patients. Dr. Overmoyer received her B.A. degree in biology, graduating magna cum laude, and her M.D. from Case Western Reserve University. She completed her internship and residency in internal medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where she was an active participant in the Breast Cancer Evaluation Center.
David B. Thomas, M.D., is Head of the Program in Epidemiology at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Washington School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Seattle. Dr. Thomas received his B.S. and M.D. degrees from the University of Washington and his M.P.H. and Dr.P.H. degrees from the Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Thomas has conducted epidemiological studies of breast cancer for more than 20 years. He has served as chair of the Epidemiology Committee of the National Breast Cancer Task Force, as president of the International Association of Cancer Registries, and as a consultant to the World Health Organization and the International Agency for Research on Cancer in the area of exogenous hormones in relation to breast and other cancers. Dr. Thomas is currently principal investigator on a planning grant to develop a multidisciplinary breast cancer research program at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, and he is also responsible for several research grants on studies of breast cancer etiology and secondary prevention. He is a fellow of the American College of Epidemiology and of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Samuel A. Wells, Jr., M.D. is the Chairman of the Department of Surgery at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri. After serving two years as a house officer in Internal Medicine at Johns Hopkins University, Dr. Wells spent two years in the Surgery Branch of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and one year at the Institute of Tumor Biology at the Karolinska Institute. After another two years back at NCI he joined the faculty of Duke University until 1981, when he assumed the Bixby Professorship and Chairmanship of the Department of Surgery at Washington University. Dr. Wells is a member of the Institute of Medicine, as well as a member of the American Association for Cancer Research, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the Society of Surgical Oncology, the American Surgical Association, the American College of Surgeons, the International Society of Surgery, and the American Society of Clinical Investigation. He is currently the President of the General Motors Cancer Research Foundation. Dr. Wells received his M.D. from Emory University and completed a residency in surgery at Duke University Medical Center.
