Invitation for Comments on the Candidates to Augment the Homeland Security Advisory Committee of the EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) August 18, 2008 The EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office announced in a Federal Register Notice (73 FR no 61, pages 16679 - 16680) that was augmenting the SAB Homeland Security Advisory Committee (HSAC) to provide consultative advice on a Draft Federal Inter-agency Anthrax Technical Assistance Document. For this consultation, there is a need to supplement the current HSAC membership with microbiologists who are nationally and internationally recognized with expertise in bacteriology of aerobic gram positive rod endospore formers (i.e., Bacillus anthracis). Individuals should possess extensive expertise in genomic and strain analysis and expertise in method development for Weapons of Mass Destruction emergency responders. Background on the details of this advisory activity and committee nomination process appear in the above referenced Federal Register Notice and are also available at the SAB website at (http://www.epa.gov/sab/). The current HSAC membership is located on the SAB website at: http://vosemite.epa.gov/sab/SABPEOPLE.NSF/PeopleSearch/AF3D24CD5F852D9B85256E060Q 61 OEC6?OpenDocument. The SAB Staff Office has received 5 nominations of candidates with expertise specific to anthrax and waste management practices and cleaning up contaminated properties to reduce risks posed by of harmful substances. We invite comments from the public on these candidates and the current HSAC members. We welcome information, analysis or documentation that the SAB Staff Office should consider in evaluating these individuals. The SAB Staff Office will review all the information provided by the HSAC Members and candidates, along with any information that the public may provide and information gathered by SAB staff independently on the background of the candidates. This includes a review of the member's confidential financial disclosure form (EPA Form 3110-48) and an evaluation of a lack of an appearance of impartiality. For the SAB Staff Office, a balanced committee or panel is characterized by inclusion of candidates who possess the necessary domains of knowledge, the relevant scientific perspectives (which among other factors, can be influenced by work history and ------- affiliation), and the collective breadth of experience to adequately address the general charge. Specific criteria to be used in evaluating an individual panel member include: (a) scientific and/or technical expertise, knowledge, and experience; (b) availability and willingness to serve; (c) absence of financial conflict of interests; (d) absence of an appearance of a lack of impartiality; (e) skills working in committees and advisory panels; and for the Panel as a whole, (f) diversity of, and balance among scientific expertise and view points. The SAB Staff Office Deputy Director will make the final decision about who serves on the panel, based on all relevant information. Please provide any comments with respect to these candidates by email no later than September 2, 2008 to the attention of Ms. Vivian Turner, Designated Federal Officer, (turner.vivian@epa.gov). ------- List of Candidates to Augment the Homeland Security Advisory Committee (HSAC) Bartlett, John Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine John G. Bartlett, MD, is a Professor of Medicine in the Division of Infectious Diseases at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland. He served as Chief of the Infectious Diseases Division at the School for 26 years, stepping down in June of 2006. Dr. Bartlett received his undergraduate degree at Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, and his medical degree at Upstate Medical Center, Syracuse, New York. He trained in internal medicine at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, and the University of Alabama, Birmingham, and he completed his fellowship training in infectious diseases at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Before accepting his current position at The Johns Hopkins University, Dr. Bartlett served as a faculty member at UCLA and Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts, and was associate chief of staff for research at the Boston VA Hospital. Dr. Bartlett has worked in several areas of research, all related to his specialty in infectious diseases. His major research interests have included anaerobic infections, pathogenic mechanisms of Bacteroides fragilis, anaerobic pulmonary infections, and Clostridium difficileated colitis. Since moving to Johns Hopkins, his major interests have been HIV/AIDS, managed care of patients with HIV infection, and bioterrorism. Dr. Bartlett is a member of the Institute of Medicine, a master of the American College of Physicians, past president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), and a recipient of the Kass Award from the IDSA. In 2005, Dr. Bartlett was awarded the Alexander Fleming Award by the IDSA and the Finland Award from the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases (NFID). Dr. Bartlett has authored over 500 articles and reviews in peer-reviewed journals, more than 280 book chapters, and 67 editions of 18 books. He has served on editorial boards for 19 medical journals. ------- and the EPA water filtration method for the detection of biothreat agents, all FERN food methods, and participates in the EPA's environmental laboratory response network. She has also been involved in the development of new diagnostic assays designed to test clinical specimens and environmental samples for bacterial, toxins, and viral agents and oversees the validation process of these molecular assays. She has been involved with the development and presentation of many training courses for laboratorians, first responders, Civil Support Teams, and members of the law enforcement community in New York State. She has also been involved the development, distribution, and analysis of surveys for first responders regarding hand-held assays, training, and biodetection equipment as well as educational material for first responders including a pocket trifold for first responders called CODE RED. She serves as a consultant for the NYS Clinical Laboratory Evaluation Program in which she reviews packages submitted by clinical laboratories for approval for use of molecular assays on clinical specimens. She chairs a committee in the NYSDOH designed to improve guidelines for the validation of molecular assays for the detection of infectious diseases for NYS permitted laboratories. Dr. Egan also is a surveyor for the NYS Environmental Laboratory Approval Program and helped to develop surveys and checklists for laboratories interested in analyzing biothreat specimens. In this capacity, she has performed on-site inspections and reviewed laboratory methods and protocols. She has participated on n a number of different federal and state agencies state committees such as Association of Analytical Communities Biothreat Methods Committee to create standards for biothreat detection methods and other NYS Intra-agency committees. She has also obtained specialized certifications in Biosafety (Certified Biosafety Professional) through NRM and also holds a Certificate of Qualification in Bacteriology through the NYS Clinical Laboratory Evaluation Program (CLEP). She has numerous publications and book chapters related to the development of diagnostic assays for biothreat assays and other issues related to public health preparedness and is an Assistant Professor in the SUNY School of Public Health, Departments of Biomedical Sciences and Environmental Health Sciences. ------- Denise Pettit obtained her PhD in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the Medical College of Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth University. Currently she is a lead scientist at the Virginia Division of Consolidated Laboratory Services (the public health laboratory for the Commonwealth of Virginia) and serves as the laboratory's Biological Emergency Response Coordinator. Her duties include the development, implementation and validation of new and standard testing strategies to detect and characterize unique biological agents that affect the environment and/or promote disease. She has collaboratively worked with local, state, and federal partners to develop appropriate sample collection and testing strategies during an outbreak or emergency event and has participated in numerous federally sponsored multi-center validation studies administered by the CDC, USD A, and EPA to determine the specificity and sensitivity of assays to detect B. anthracis and other Category A biothreat agents. Additionally she has worked with the United States Postal Service, Federal Bureau of Investigations, Department of Homeland Security, and the Pentagon Force Protection Agency to develop testing strategies and response plans following the environmental detection of a biothreat agent. She is a Select Agent Program Principal Investigator (Select toxins, viral and bacterial agents, including B. anthracis), a member of the Laboratory Response Network and Food Emergency Response Network, and is currently serving on the Methods Committee for the Interagency Consortium of Laboratory Networks. She was actively involved in responding to the bioterrorism attack of 2001; identifying three inhalation anthrax cases in Virginia, testing hundreds of clinical specimens to detect the presence of B. anthracis and analyzing thousands of environmental samples to detect the presence of B. anthracis spores. ------- Rogers also serves as the Branch Chief for the Microbial Analysis and Data Branch (MADB) of the Microbiology Division, Office of Public Health Science. ------- |