HHS SECRETARY NAMES FIVE TO NIAID ADVISORY COUNCIL HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today announced five appointments to the National Advisory Allergy and Infectious Diseases Council, the principal advisory body of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a component of the National Institutes of Health within the Department of Health and Human Services.

The council provides recommendations on the conduct and support of research, including training young scientists and disseminating health information derived from NIAID research. The council is composed of physicians, scientists and representatives of the public who contribute their time and expertise for a four-year term.

The new council members are: Anthony M. D'Alessandro, M.D., professor of surgery at the University of Wisconsin, Madison; Charles Davis, Jr., M.D., assistant professor of medicine at the Institute of Human Virology in the School of Medicine at the University of Maryland in Baltimore, Md.; Anne Munoz-Furlong, B.I.S., CEO and founder of the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network in Fairfax, Va.; Rev. Raymond C. O'Brien, J.D., professor of law at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.; and Anjana Rao, Ph.D., professor of pathology at Harvard Medical School in Boston, Ma.

NIAID supports basic and applied research to prevent, diagnose, and treat infectious and immune-mediated illnesses, including HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, illness from potential agents of bioterrorism, tuberculosis, malaria, autoimmune disorders, asthma and allergies.

Dr. D'Alessandro is director of multiorgan transplantation and executive director of the Organ Procurement Organization at the University of Wisconsin. He has been actively involved with the United Network for Organ Sharing, having served on many committees and as Region 7 councilor. He is currently an at-large representative on the board of directors. Dr. D'Alessandro belongs to many professional societies and has published extensively in transplantation.

Dr. Davis' background and training is in the areas of infectious diseases and internal medicine. His primary areas of interest are in HIV immunotherapy, alternative therapies and controlling HIV replication through cell-cycle modification.

Ms. Munoz-Furlong is nationally recognized as the founder of the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network, a non-profit organization that is an advocate for families with these diseases. Under her leadership, this network has substantially increased public awareness about these diseases. She has published many educational booklets about managing food allergy, and she has also been the executive producer for a series of educational videos on food allergy and anaphylaxis.

Rev. O'Brien is a Roman Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., and a permanent visiting professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington. He is co-author of a casebook, statutory book and treatise in family law and long-term care; has written extensively on HIV and AIDS; and was faculty advisor to the university's Journal of Contemporary Health Law and Policy.

Dr. Rao is senior investigator at the Center for Blood Research at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Rao is an internationally recognized investigator in the areas of immunology, molecular biology, signal transduction and gene transcription. She has served on numerous review committees, including the Scientific Advisory Council of the Cancer Research Institute. Dr. Rao is the recipient of awards from the Leukemia Society of America, and she recently received the Meritorious Career Award from the American Association of Immunologists-Huang Foundation.

NIAID is a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). NIAID supports basic and applied research to prevent, diagnose, and treat infectious and immune-mediated illnesses, including HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, illness from potential agents of bioterrorism, tuberculosis, malaria, autoimmune disorders, asthma and allergies.