Three New Members Join NCCAM Council

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt has appointed three new members to the National Institutes of Health’s National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine’s Natioonal Advisory Council, it was announced on August 17 in an NCCAM’s press release.

The council comprises physicians, scientists, licensed CAM practitioners and representatives of the public. Its members offer advice and recommendations on prioritizing, conducting, and supporting CAM research, research training, and the sharing of health information from NCCAM's research, according to the press release.

The new members are:

• Silvia Corvera, M.D., is professor in the Program in Molecular Medicine and the Department of Cell Biology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School. Corvera trained as an endocrinologist, and her research focus is greater understanding of Type-2 diabetes.

• Bruce G. Redman, D.O., is clinical professor in the Department of Internal Medicine and chair of the Comprehensive Cancer Center Data Monitoring Committee at the University of Michigan. He is also an advisor to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and an executive officer of Southwest Oncology Group. Redman's research focuses on new approaches to cancer treatment that work with the immune system's responses.

• Danny D. Shen, Ph.D., is professor and chair of the Department of Pharmacy at the University of Washington. He also directs the Pharmacokinetics Laboratory within the Clinical Research Division of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Shen's research focuses on interactions in the body between medications and herbal supplements, and on drug delivery to the central nervous system.

— Source: National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, http://nccam.nih.gov/news.