FRED H. GAGE (Board Chair) is the Vi and John Adler Professor of the Laboratory of Genetics at the Salk Institute in San Diego. Dr. Gage’s research focuses on the structural plasticity that persists in the adult nervous system. In addition to studying the mechanism and function of adult neurogenesis his research efforts also focus on genetic engineering and cell transplantation strategies to reverse or restore function lost as a result of neurodegeneration or neurotrauma. In 1998 he led the team that discovered neural stem cells in the human brain. In addition to stem cells, he is studying substances that act to promote growth in injured nerve projections. His professional activities have included service on the NIH Advisory Council on Aging, the NIH Working Group on Guidelines for the Use of Human Embryonic Stem Cells, the Research Consortium of the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation, and the Advisory Board of the American Society of Gene Therapy. He has also served on the editorial board of over two dozen scientific journals and as President of the Society for Neuroscience; and he has received numerous awards and honors including the NIH Merit Award, Decade of the Brain Medal. He was elected to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in 2001 and the National Academy of Sciences in 2003. He served on an IOM committee that studied the biological impact of exposure to electromagnetic fields (1996).

DONALD BURKE (coming soon)

C. THOMAS CASKEY is Director-Elect and Chief Executive Officer-Elect and Chief Operating Officer of the Brown Foundation Institute of Molecular Medicine for the Prevention of Human Diseases (IMM), at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. Dr. Caskey was founding director of Houston-based Cogene Biotech Ventures and Cogene Ventures, venture capital funds supporting early-stage biotechnology and life sciences companies. He has received numerous academic and industry-related honors. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine. He has served as president of American Society of Human Genetics, the Human Genome Organization and The Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas (TAMEST). Dr. Caskey previously served as Senior Vice President for Human Genetics and Vaccines Discovery at Merck Research Laboratories from 1994 to 2000 and as president of the Merck Genome Research Institute from 1998 to 2000. His genetic research documented the universality of the genetic code, discovered the mechanism of peptide chain termination, identified the genetic basis of 10 major heritable diseases, opened the understanding of triplet repeat diseases (Fragile X, myotonic dystrophy and others), developed the STR method of DNA-based personal identification (now used worldwide) for forensic studies, and developed a viral vector vaccine for HIV. He received the Distinguished Texas Geneticist Award from the Texas Genetics Society in 1998 and serves on Texas Governor Rick Perry's Council on Science and Biotechnology, which makes funding recommendations for the $200 million Texas Emerging Technology Fund. Dr. Caskey earned his medical degree from Duke University School of Medicine and his undergraduate degree from the University of South Carolina. He is Board certified in Internal Medicine, Clinical Genetics, Metabolic Diseases and Molecular Diagnostics.

GAIL H. CASSELL is Vice President, Scientific Affairs, Distinguished Lilly Research Scholar for Infectious Diseases, Eli Lilly & Company. Previously, she was the Charles H. McCauley Professor and (since 1987) Chair, Department of Microbiology, University of Alabama Schools of Medicine and Dentistry at Birmingham, a department which, under her leadership, has ranked first in research funding from the National Institutes of Health since 1989. She is a member of the Director’s Advisory Committee of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Cassell is past president of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) and is serving her third three-year term as chairman of the Public and Scientific Affairs Board of ASM. She is a former member of the National Institutes of Health Director’s Advisory Committee and a former member of the Advisory Council of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. She has also served as an advisor on infectious diseases and indirect costs of research to the White House Office on Science and Technology and was previously chair of the Board of Scientific Counselors of the National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Dr. Cassell served eight years on the Bacteriology-Mycology-II Study Section and served as its chair for three years. She serves on the editorial boards of several prestigious scientific journals and has authored over 275 articles and book chapters. She has been intimately involved in the establishment of science policy and legislation related to biomedical research and public health. Dr. Cassell has received several national and international awards and an honorary degree for her research on infectious diseases.

JAMES F. CHILDRESS is the John Allen Hollingsworth Professor of Ethics and Professor of Medical Education at the University of Virginia, where he teaches in the Department of Religious Studies and directs the Institute for Practical Ethics and Public Life. He served as Chair of the Department of Religious Studies, 1972-1975 and 1986-1994, as Principal of UVA's Monroe Hill College from 1988 to 1991, and as co-director of the Virginia Health Policy Center 1991-1999. In 1990 he was named Professor of the Year in the state of Virginia by the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, and in 2002 he received the University of Virginia's highest honor--the Thomas Jefferson Award. In 2004, the American Society of Bioethics and Humanities bestowed on him its Life-time Achievement Award. Dr. Childress was vice chair of the national Task Force on Organ Transplantation, and he has also served on the Board of Directors of the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS), the UNOS Ethics Committee, the Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee, the Human Gene Therapy Subcommittee, the Biomedical Ethics Advisory Committee, and several Data and Safety Monitoring Boards for NIH clinical trials. He was a member of the presidentially-appointed National Bioethics Advisory Commission 1996-2001. Childress is a member of the Institute of Medicine and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He is also a fellow of the Hastings Center. He received his B.A. from Guilford College, his B.D. from Yale Divinity School, and his M.A. and Ph.D. from Yale University. Dr. Childress is currently the chair of the Committee on Increasing Rates of Organ Donation. He has co-chaired the NRC Subcommittee on Use of Third Party Toxicity Research with Human Test Subjects and has served as a member of the IOM Committee on Establishing a National Cord Blood Stem Cell Bank Program and the Committee on Assessing Genetic Risks: Issues and Implications for Health.

DENNIS CHOI (coming soon)

LINDA C. GIUDICE is Professor and Chair of the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco where she holds the Robert B. Jaffe, MD Endowed Chair in the Reproductive Sciences. She received her PhD in Biochemistry from the University of California, Los Angeles, and an MD from Stanford University, after postdoctoral training at Rockefeller and the NIH. Dr. Giudice completed her residency in obstetrics and gynecology at Stanford University and Washington University in St. Louis and was a fellow in Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility at Stanford. In 1987, she joined the faculty of the Stanford University School of Medicine and in 2005 was named the Stanley McCormick Memorial Professor Emerita. While at Stanford, Dr. Giudice served as Founding Director for the Center for Research on Reproduction, Women’s Health and Genomic Medicine and was the Director of the Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility Division from 1994–2005. Dr. Giudice was elected to the Institute of Medicine in 2002 and has been affiliated with the Institute for Stem Cell and Tissue Biology at the University of California at San Francisco since 2005, where she serves on the Gamete, Embryo, and Stem Cell Research Oversight Committee, the Stem Cell Research Coordinating Committee and the Stem Cell Research Program Committee. She has a major interest in human embryonic stem cells and somatic cell nuclear transfer from the perspective of policy and human subject protection.

LYNN R. GOLDMAN, is a pediatrician and an epidemiologist. She is a Professor at the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, where her areas of focus are environmental health policy and children’s environmental health. In 1993, Dr. Goldman was appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate to serve as Assistant Administrator for the EPA’s Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances (OPPTS). In that position, she was responsible for the nation's pesticide, toxic substances and pollution prevention laws. Under her watch, EPA expanded right-to-know under the Toxics Release Inventory and overhauled the nation’s pesticides laws. Dr. Goldman made significant progress on the issues of testing high volume industrial chemicals and identification of chemicals that disrupt endocrine systems. At the EPA she was successful in promoting children’s health issues and furthering the international agenda for global chemical safety. Prior to joining the EPA, Dr. Goldman served in several positions at the California Department of Health Services, most recently as head of the Division of Environmental and Occupational Disease Control. She has conducted public health investigations on pesticides, childhood lead poisoning and other environmental hazards. She has a B.S. in Conservation of Natural Resources from the University of California, Berkeley, an M.P.H. from the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health, and an M.D. from the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Goldman completed pediatric training at Children’s Hospital, Oakland, California. 

LAWRENCE O. GOSTIN is an internationally recognized scholar in law and public health. He is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine of The National Academies and an elected fellow of the Hastings Center. At the NAS, he currently is a member of the Committee Science, Technology, and Law. Professor Gostin is the Health Law and Ethics Editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association and serves on the editorial boards of many other scholarly journals. His recent books have included: The AIDS Pandemic: Complacency, Injustice, and Unfulfilled Expectations (2004), The Human Rights of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities: Different But Equal (2003, with SS Herr, HH Koh, eds.), Public Health law and Ethics: A Reader (2002), and Public Health Law: Power, Duty, Restraint (2000). He currently works as a Professor of Public Health at Johns Hopkins University, and as Professor of Law and Director of the Center on Law and the Public's Health at the Georgetown University Law Center.

MARTHA N. HILL is Dean and professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing. She holds joint appointments in the Bloomberg School of Public Health and the School of Medicine. Dr. Hill, the 1997-1998 president of the American Heart Association, is a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing and a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. She serves on the IOM Board on Health Sciences Policy and was the Co-vice chair of the IOM Report Unequal Treatment: Confronting Ethnic and Racial Disparities in Health Care. Dr. Hill received her Bachelor of Science degree in nursing from Johns Hopkins University, her masters degree from the University of Pennsylvania, and her doctoral degree in behavioral sciences from the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health. Dr. Hill is internationally known for her work and research in preventing and treating hypertension and its complications among underserved blacks, particularly among young, urban black men. She is an active investigator and consultant on several NIH funded clinical trials. She has published extensively and serves on numerous review panels, editorial boards, and advisory committees including the Board of Directors of Research!America. Dr. Hill has also consulted on hypertension and other cardiovascular-related issues outside of the U.S. including South Africa, Scotland, Israel, and Australia.

PAUL JARRIS (coming soon)

DAVID KORN is Senior Vice President for Biomedical and Health Sciences Research at the Association of American Medical Colleges. He is also vice president, dean of medicine, and professor of pathology, emeritus, Stanford University. Dr. Korn received his undergraduate degree and MD from Harvard University. He was a founder of the California Organ Transplant Donor Network, one of the nation's largest Organ Procurement Organizations, and was appointed as chairman of the National Cancer Advisory Board in 1984 by Ronald Reagan, a position he held until 1991. Dr. Korn is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has also served on the editorial boards of the American Journal of Pathology, The Journal of Biological Chemistry, and Human Pathology. He is a member of the Institute of Medicine.

RICHARD LARSON (coming soon)

ALAN LESHNER is Chief Executive Officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and Executive Publisher of Science magazine. From 1994-2001, he was Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse at NIH, and from 1988-1994 he was Deputy Director and Acting Director of the National Institute of Mental Health. Prior to that, he spent nine years at the National Science Foundation, where he held a variety of senior positions, focusing on basic research in the biological, behavioral and social sciences, and on science education. He began his career at Bucknell University, where he was Professor of Psychology. His research has focused on the biological bases of behavior, particularly the role of hormones in the control of behavior. Dr. Leshner is a member of the Institute of Medicine and a fellow of AAAS and many other professional societies. He has received numerous awards form both professional and lay groups for his national leadership in science, mental illness and mental health, and substance abuse and addiction.

LINDA MILLER (coming soon)

E. ALBERT REECE is Vice President for Medical Affairs at the University of Maryland at Baltimore and the dean of the University of Maryland School of Medicine.  Dr. Reece was previously Vice Chancellor and Dean of the University of Arkansas College of Medicine. Dr. Reece received his undergraduate degree from Long Island University, his M.D. from New York University, his Ph.D. degree in biochemistry from the University of the West Indies, and his M.B.A. degree from the Fox School of Business and Management of Temple University. He completed a residency in OB/GYN at Columbia University - Presbyterian Hospital, and a fellowship in maternal-fetal medicine at Yale University School of Medicine. He served on the faculty at Yale for 10 year and was the Chairman of the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at Temple University. Dr. Reece has published over 400 journal articles, papers, book chapters, and abstracts and 9 textbooks including Diabetes in Pregnancy; Medicine of the Fetus & Mother; and Fundamentals of Ultrasound in Obstetrics & Gynecology. He is an editor for the Journal of Maternal-Fetal Medicine and a reviewer for several other scientific journals. His research focuses on diabetes in pregnancy, birth defects and prenatal diagnosis. Dr. Reece is a member of the Institute of Medicine.

LINDA ROSENSTOCK is currently Dean of the UCLA School of Public Health. Prior to this position, she served as Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) where she was instrumental in creating a framework for guiding occupational safety and health research. This agenda was developed in collaboration with 500 external partners. Dr. Rosenstock has been active internationally in teaching and research in occupational and environmental health and has served as an advisor to the World Health Organization. She has expertise in occupational and environmental medicine health care delivery as well as in the role of federal government in health sciences research and policy. She received her M.D. and M.P.H. from The Johns Hopkins University. She is a recipient of the Presidential Distinguished Executive Rank Award and was elected to the IOM in 1995.

KEITH WAILOO (coming soon)

MICHAEL WELCH is Professor of Radiology, Co-Director of the Division of Radiology Sciences of The Edward Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, and is Professor of Molecular Biology and Pharmacology at Washington University School of Medicine. He received his B.A. and M.A. degrees in Natural Sciences from Cambridge University and his Ph.D. degree in Radiochemistry at the University of London. Dr. Welch has published several books, numerous journal articles, and book chapters in the area of radiology. Dr. Welch is a member of the Institute of Medicine.

OWEN N. WITTE is Professor of Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics at the University of California, Los Angeles, where he holds the David Saxon Presidential Chair in Developmental Immunology. Additionally, he is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. He received his B.S. degree from Cornell University, his M.D. degree from Stanford University, and completed his postdoctoral training at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dr. Witte's honors include the Milken Foundation Award in basic cancer research, the Rosenthal Award of the American Association for Cancer Research, the Dameshek Prize from the American Society of Hematology, and the Warren Alpert Foundation Prize. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Academy of Microbiology, and the National Academy of Sciences.