HHS Announces Six New Appointments to CDC Advisory Committee on HIV and STD Prevention

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today announced the appointment of six new members to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Advisory Committee on HIV and STD Prevention. The panel advises the Secretary and CDC regarding objectives, strategies, policies and priorities for HIV and STD prevention efforts.

The new Advisory Committee members are: Beny J. Primm, M.D., of Brooklyn, N.Y.; David James Farabee, M.S., Ph.D., of Los Angeles; Antonia M. Villarruel, R.N., Ph.D., of Ann Arbor, Mich.; Gale Elizabeth Grant, M.A., Ph.D., of Richmond, Va.; Renee Cobos, M.D., of Brea, Calif.; and Freda McKissic Bush, M.D., FACOG, of Jackson, Miss.

The Advisory Committee meets two times per year and consists of 18 members who are knowledgeable in the fields of public health, epidemiology, laboratory practice, immunology, infectious diseases, drug abuse, behavioral science, and health education.

Dr. Beny Primm is the Executive Director of the Addiction Research and Treatment Corporation, which provides a multi-modality service and treatment program for approximately 2,300 men and women who are primarily members of severely underserved populations. Dr. Primm was appointed to the Presidential Commission on the HIV epidemic in 1987 and was appointed by the Secretary of Health and Human Serivces to direct the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment in 1989. He also has served on special committees on drug and alcohol abuse for the World Health Organization and as a consultant to the Drug Abuse Policy Office of the White House.

Dr. David James Farabee is an Associate Research Psychologist at the Neuropsychiatric Institute's Drug Abuse Research Center at the University of California, Los Angeles. Dr. Farabee previously served as the Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Research Scientist at the Center on Drug and Alcohol Research at the University of Kentucky and Lead Researcher for the Texas Commission, Alcohol and Drug Abuse. In 2001, he served as co-editor of the "Offender Substance Abuse Report," a bi-monthly publication published by the Civic Research Institute.

Dr. Antonia M. Villarruel is the Director of the University of Michigan's Center for Health Promotion. She serves as an Associate Professor with tenure at the University of Michigan and has served as an Assistant Professor at the University of Pennsylvania. She is a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Child Health Research Center, and Latino Children's Health Consortium, and she recently received the Distinguished Visiting Minority Scholar Award from the University of North Carolina's School of Nursing. She also serves as Vice-President of the National Coalition of Ethnic Minority Nursing Associations.

Dr. Gale Elizabeth Grant is a Program Specialist for the Virginia Department of Health and directs the statewide abstinence education initiative. In 2001, she served as a Proposal Reviewer for the Health Resources and Services Administration's Maternal and Child Health Bureau. She is a certified Prevention Professional, a member of the National Council of Family Relations, and has served on the Minority Health Advisory Board for the Richmond Public Health Department.

Dr. Renee Cobos is a staff dermatologist at Kaiser Permanente in Brea, Calif. and serves as Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Dermatology at the University of California, Irvine. Before accepting that position in 1999, she was Chief of Dermatology for the Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Baldwin Park, Calif. for eight years. Since 1996, Dr. Cobos has served in various capacities in the Dermatology Society of Orange County, most recently as President, 1998-1999. She is also the Director of the Dermatology Core Curriculum Committee Lecture Series for the Southern California Permanente Medical Group.

Dr. Freda McKissic Bush is certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology and is in private practice at East Lakeland OB-GYN Associates in Jackson, Miss. She serves as a Clinical Instructor in both the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Dr. Bush is a Fellow of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and a member of the American Medical Association. She currently serves as the President of the Mississippi State Board of Medical Licensure.

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