Notices and Updates
Updates
- Federal Register Notice: The nomination period for public members is extended 30 days. Nominations must be received no later than 5:00 p.m. ET, December 5, 2020. Published on November 4, 2020.
- Federal Register Notice: Seeking nominations of non-federal public members for seven positions on the Tick-Borne Disease Working Group. Please read the notice carefully, as all the information outlined in the first paragraph of the Nominations section must be submitted in order to be considered for a position. Nominations must be received no later than 5:00 p.m. ET, November 5, 2020. Published on October 6, 2020.
- Press Release: Announcement of new members appointed to the Tick-Borne Disease Working Group. Published on June 3, 2019.
- Press Release: Announcement of the issuance of the first Tick-Borne Disease Working Group Report to Congress. Published on November 14, 2018.
- Press Release: Announcement of new members and first meeting of the Tick-Borne Disease Working Group. Published on November 22, 2017.
Notices
2019-2020 Subcommittees
The Tick-Borne Disease Working Group (TBDWG) recommended the formulation of eight subcommittees (listed below) during their June 4, 2109, meeting. TBDWG members serve as subcommittee Co-Chairs. Each subcommittee will develop a report on their findings, including suggested recommendations, for the TBDWG to consider when preparing the 2020 Report to the HHS Secretary and Congress. Subcommittee reports will be posted on the TBDWG website when final.
Alpha-gal Syndrome Subcommittee
| Member | Member Type | Expertise |
|---|---|---|
| (Co-Chair) Scott Commins, BS, MD, PhD |
Public | Associate Professor of Medicine & Pediatrics, University of North Carolina; Member, UNC Food Allergy Initiative, Thurston Research Center |
| (Co-Chair) Angel M. Davey, PhD |
Federal | Program Manager, Tick-Borne Disease Research Program; Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs; U.S. Department of Defense |
| (Co-Chair) Leigh Ann Soltysiak, MS |
Public | Owner, Principal, Silverleaf Consulting, LLC; Adjunct Professor, Stevens Institute of Technology & Entrepreneurship Thinking |
| Charles Apperson, PhD | Public | Professor Emeritus, Arthropod Vector Biology & Management; Department of Entomology; North Carolina State University |
| Beth Carrison | Public | Alpha-gal syndrome patient and advocate; Co-founder of Tick-Borne Conditions United |
| Shahid Karim, PhD | Public | Professor, Arthropod Vector Biology, Tick-borne Diseases; Functional Genomics & Biological Sciences; University of Southern Mississippi |
| Stephen M. Rich, PhD | Public | Professor of Microbiology; Director of the Laboratory of Medical Zoology; University of Massachusetts |
| Sarah Stuart | Public | Alpha-gal syndrome advocate and patient |
Babesiosis and Tick-Borne Pathogens Subcommittee
| Member | Member Type | Expertise |
|---|---|---|
| (Co-Chair) Ben Beard, PhD |
Federal | Deputy Director, Division of Vector-Borne Diseases; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; Associate Editor, Emerging Infectious Diseases |
| (Co-Chair) Eugene Shapiro, MD |
Public | Professor of Pediatrics, Epidemiology, and Investigative Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine; Vice Chair for Research, Department of Pediatrics, Co-Director of Education, Yale Center for Clinical Investigation; Deputy Director, Yale PhD Program in Investigative Medicine |
| Bryon Backenson, MS | Public | New York State Department of Health; Bureau of Communicable Disease Control |
| Alan G. Barbour, MD | Public | Distinguished Professor, Microbiology & Molecular Genetics, Medicine, and Ecology & Evolutionary Biology; University of California Irvine |
| Greg Ebel, PhD | Public | Department of Microbiology Immunology and Pathology; Colorado State University |
| Richard I. Horowitz, MD | Public | Medical Director, Hudson Valley Healing Arts Center |
| Anne Kjemtrup, DVM, MPVM, PhD | Public | California Department of Public Health; Division of Communicable Disease Control |
| Anna Schotthoefer, PhD | Public | Marshfield Clinic Research Institute; Integrated Research and Development Laboratory |
| Sam R. Telford III, MS, SD | Public | Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine at Tufts University, Department of Infectious Disease and Global Health |
| Monica White | Public | President/Co-founder, Colorado Tick-Borne Disease Awareness Association |
Clinical Aspects of Lyme Disease Subcommittee
| Member | Member Type | Expertise |
|---|---|---|
| (Co-Chair) Sam Donta, MD |
Public | Professor of Medicine (retired); Consultant, Infectious Diseases |
| (Co-Chair) Commander Rebecca Bunnell, MPAS, PA-C |
Federal | Senior Advisor, Learning and Diffusion Group, Innovation Center; Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services |
| John Aucott, MD | Public |
Associate Professor, Division of Rheumatology; Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine;
Director, Johns Hopkins Lyme Disease Clinical Research Center
|
| Rex G. Carr, MD, FAAPMR | Public | Specialist in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, NH |
| Brian A. Fallon, MD, MPH | Public | Professor of Clinical Psychiatry; Director, Lyme & Tick-borne Diseases Research Center; Columbia University Irving Medical Center |
| Katherine Murray Leisure, MD | Public | Infectious Diseases Specialist, MA |
| Elizabeth Maloney, MD | Public | President, Partnership for Tick-Borne Diseases Education |
| James K. Mingle | Public | President and CEO, MyCareTeam |
Ehrlichiosis and Anaplasmosis Subcommittee
| Member | Member Type | Expertise |
|---|---|---|
| (Co-Chair) David Walker, MD |
Public | Professor, Department of Pathology, The Carmage and Martha Walls Distinguised University Chair in Tropical Diseases; Executive Director, UTMB Center for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases |
| (Co-Chair) Dennis Dixon, PhD |
Federal | Chief, Bacteriology and Mycology Branch; National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases; National Institutes of Health; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services |
| John Branda, MD | Public | Clinical Microbiology and Pathology Speicialist; Associate Director, Microbiology Laboratories; Massachusetts General Hospital |
| Stephen Clark, PhD | Public | Retired Associate Professor Emeritus, University of Connecticut School of Medicine |
| J. Stephen Dumler, MD | Federal | Professor and Chair, Joint Department of Pathology; Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences; Walter Reed National Military Medical Center; Joint Pathology Center |
| Harold Horowitz, MD | Public | Professor, Department of Medicine (Infectious Diseases); Weill Cornell Medical College |
| Bobbi Pritt, MD | Public | Professor and Vice Chair of Education, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology; Director, Clinical Parasitology; Co-Director, Vector-borne Diseases Laboratory Services; Mayo Clinic |
| Daniel Sexton, MD | Public | Professor of Medicine, Infectious Disease Specialist; Duke University School of Medicine |
| Gregory A. Storch, MD | Public | Ruth L. Siteman Professor of Pediatrics; Chief, Division of Pediatric Laboratory Medicine; Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis |
Pathogenesis and Physiology of Lyme Disease Subcommittee
| Member | Member Type | Expertise |
|---|---|---|
| (Co-Chair) Sam Donta, MD |
Public | Professor of Medicine (retired); Consultant, Infectious Diseases |
| (Co-Chair) Leith Jason States, MD, MPH (FMF) |
Federal | Deputy Chief Medical Officer; Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services |
| Wendy Adams, MBA | Public | Research Grant Director, Bay Area Lyme Foundation |
| Troy Bankhead, PhD | Public | Associate Professor School of Veterinary Microbiology and Pathology, Washington State University |
| Nicole Baumgarth, DVM, PhD | Public | Professor, Center for Comparative Medicine and Deptartment of Pathology, Microbiology & Immunology; University of California, Davis |
| Monica E. Embers, PhD | Public | Director of Vector-borne Disease Research, Division of Immunology; Tulane National Primate Research Center |
| Robert Lochhead, PhD | Public | Assistant Professor of Microbiology and Immunology; Medical College of Wisconsin |
| Brian Stevenson, PhD | Public | Professor, Department of Microbiology, Immunology & Molecular Genetics; University of Kentucky College of Medicine |
Rickettsiosis Subcommittee
| Member | Member Type | Expertise |
|---|---|---|
| (Co-Chair) David Walker, MD |
Public | Professor, Department of Pathology, The Carmage and Martha Walls Distinguised University Chair in Tropical Diseases; Executive Director, UTMB Center for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases |
| (Co-Chair) Captain Estella Jones, DVM |
Federal | Deputy Director, Office of Counterterrorism and Emerging Threats; Food and Drug Administration |
| Lucas Blanton, MD | Public | Assisant Professor of Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases; University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston |
| Karen Bloch, MD, MPH, FIDSA, FACP | Public | Associate Professor of Medicine (Infectious Disease) and Preventative Medicine; Associate Professor, Health Policy; Vanderbilt University Medical Center |
| Lieutenant Christina M. Farris, PhD | Federal | Viral and Rickettsial Diseases Department, Naval Medical Research Center, MD |
| Vance Fowler, MD | Public | Infectious Disease Specialist; Professor of Medicine and Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, Duke University School of Medicine |
| David N. Gaines, PhD | Public | State Public Health Entomologist, Virginia Department of Health |
| Tony Galbo | Public | Patient advocate |
| Christopher D. Paddock, MD, MPHTM | Federal | Medical Officer, Rickettsial Zoonoses Branch; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |
| Hayley Yaglom, MS, MPH | Public | One Health Genomics Epidemiologist; Translational Genomics Research Institute |
Tick Biology, Ecology, and Control Subcommittee
| Member | Member Type | Expertise |
|---|---|---|
| (Co-Chair) Adalberto (Beto) Pérez de León, DVM, PhD, MS |
Federal | Director, Knipling-Bushland U.S. Livestock Insects Research Laboratory; Agricultural Research Service; United States Department of Agriculture |
| (Co-Chair) Kevin R. Macaluso, PhD, MS |
Public | Locke Distinguished Chair; Chair of Microbiology and Immunology; College of Medicine; University of South Alabama |
| Trey Cahill, MUrP | Public | Public Health Analyst, Location Intelligence (GIS); Manager, Arbovirus Surveillance Program; Health Regulation and Licensing Administration, D.C. Department of Health |
| Neeta Pardanani Connally, PhD, MSPH | Public | Associate Professor and Director, Tickborne Disease Prevention Laboratory; Department of Biological & Environmental Sciences; Western Connecticut State University |
| Lars Eisen, PhD | Federal | Research Entomologist, Division of Vector-Borne Diseases; National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention |
| Howard Ginsberg, PhD | Federal | Research Ecologist and Field Station Leader, U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior, Rhode Island Field Station; Professor in Residence, University of Rhode Island |
| Lonnie Marcum, PT, BSHCA |
Public | Physical Therapist, and Health and Science Writer for LymeDisease.org |
| R. Michael Roe, PhD | Public | William Neal Reynolds Distinguished Professor, Department of Entomology and Plant Pathology; North Carolina State University |
| Robert (Bob) Sabatino | Public | Founder and Executive Director, Lyme Society, Inc. |
| Daniel Sonenshine, PhD | Public | Guest Researcher, Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health; Eminent Professor of Biological Science, Old Dominion University |
| Kirby C. Stafford III, PhD | Public | Chief Entomologist/State Entomologist, Department of Entomology; Center for Vector Biology and Zoonotic Diseases, Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station; NE Regional Center for Excellence in Vector Borne Diseases |
| Pete D. Teel, PhD | Public | Regents Professor and Interim Department Head, Department of Entomology; Texas A&M University |
| Maria Diuk-Wasser, PhD | Public | Associate Professor, Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology; Columbia University |
| Stephen Wikel, PhD | Public | Professor and Chair Emeritus of Medical Sciences; St. Vincent's Medical Center; Quinnipiac University |
Training, Education, Access to Care, and Reimbursement Subcommittee
| Member | Member Type | Expertise |
|---|---|---|
| (Co-Chair) Patricia V. Smith |
Public | President, Lyme Disease Association, Inc. |
| (Co-Chair) Commander Rebecca Bunnell, MPAS, PA-C |
Federal | Senior Advisor, Learning and Diffusion Group, Innovation Center; Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services |
| Megan Dulaney, MS | Public | Patient Representative, Senior Interagency Liaison & Policy Advisor; Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military Medicine in support of DoD Health Affairs and Center for Global Health Engagement; Uniformed Services University |
| Doug Fearn | Public | President, Lyme Disease Association of Southeastern Pennsylvania, Inc |
| Lorraine Johnson, JD, MBA | Public | Health Care Policy Expert; CEO, LymeDisease.org |
| Elizabeth Maloney, MD | Public | President, Partnership for Tick-Borne Diseases Education |
| Sheila M. Statlender, PhD | Public | Clinical Psychologist, Private Practice |
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