[Federal Register Volume 77, Number 94 (Tuesday, May 15, 2012)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28607-28608]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2012-11634]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Health Resources and Services Administration


Advisory Committee on Organ Transplantation; Request for 
Nominations for Voting Members

AGENCY: Health Resources and Services Administration, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is 
requesting nominations to fill vacancies on the Advisory Committee on 
Organ Transplantation (ACOT). The ACOT was established by the Amended 
Final Rule of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) 
(42 CFR part 121) and, in accordance with Public Law 92-463, was 
chartered on September 1, 2000.

DATES: The agency must receive nominations on or before June 11, 2012.

ADDRESSES: All nominations should be submitted to the Executive 
Secretary, Advisory Committee on Organ Transplantation, Healthcare 
Systems Bureau, HRSA, Parklawn Building, Room 12C-06, 5600 Fishers 
Lane, Rockville, Maryland 20857. Federal Express, Airborne, UPS, etc., 
should be addressed to the Executive Secretary, Advisory Committee on 
Organ Transplantation, Healthcare Systems Bureau, HRSA, at the above 
address.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patricia A. Stroup, M.B.A., M.P.A., 
Executive Secretary, Advisory Committee on Organ Transplantation, at 
(301) 443-1127 or email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: As provided by 42 CFR 121.12, the Secretary 
established the Advisory Committee on Organ Transplantation. The 
Committee is governed by the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. 
Appendix 2), which sets forth standards for the formation and use of 
advisory committees.
    The ACOT advises the Secretary on all aspects of organ procurement, 
allocation, and transplantation, and on other such matters that the 
Secretary determines. One of its principal functions is to advise the 
Secretary on Federal efforts to maximize the number of deceased donor 
organs made available for transplantation and to support the safety of 
living organ donation.
    The ACOT consists of up to 25 members, who are Special Government 
Employees, and 5 ex-officio, non-voting members. Members and the Chair 
shall be appointed by the Secretary from individuals knowledgeable in 
such fields as deceased and living organ donation, health care public 
policy, transplantation medicine and surgery, critical care medicine 
and other medical

[[Page 28608]]

specialties involved in the identification and referral of donors, non-
physician transplant professions, nursing, epidemiology, immunology, 
law and bioethics, behavioral sciences, economics and statistics, as 
well as representatives of transplant candidates, transplant 
recipients, living organ donors, and family members of deceased and 
living organ donors. Members shall not serve while they are also 
serving on the OPTN Board of Directors. To the extent practicable, 
Committee members should represent the minority, gender and geographic 
diversity of transplant candidates, transplant recipients, organ donors 
and family members served by the OPTN. The ex-officio, non-voting 
members shall include the Directors of the National Institutes of 
Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and the Agency 
for Healthcare Research and Quality; the Administrator of the Centers 
for Medicare and Medicaid Services; and the Commissioner of the Food 
and Drug Administration--or their designees.
    Specifically, HRSA is requesting nominations for voting members of 
the ACOT representing: Health care public policy; transplantation 
medicine and surgery, including pediatric and heart/lung 
transplantation; critical care medicine; nursing; epidemiology and 
applied statistics; immunology; law and bioethics; behavioral sciences; 
economics and econometrics; organ procurement organizations; transplant 
candidates/recipients; transplant/donor family members; and living 
donors. Nominees will be invited to serve a 4-year term beginning after 
January 2013.
    HHS will consider nominations of all qualified individuals with a 
view to ensuring that the Advisory Committee includes the areas of 
subject matter expertise noted above. Individuals may nominate 
themselves or other individuals, and professional associations and 
organizations may nominate one or more qualified persons for membership 
on the ACOT. Nominations shall state that the nominee is willing to 
serve as a member of the ACOT and appears to have no conflict of 
interest that would preclude the ACOT membership. Potential candidates 
will be asked to provide detailed information concerning financial 
interests, consultancies, research grants, and/or contracts that might 
be affected by recommendations of the Committee to permit evaluation of 
possible sources of conflicts of interest.
    A nomination package should include the following information for 
each nominee: (1) A letter of nomination stating the name, affiliation, 
and contact information for the nominee, the basis for the nomination 
(i.e., what specific attributes, perspectives, and/or skills does the 
individual possess that would benefit the workings of ACOT), and the 
nominee's field(s) of expertise; (2) a biographical sketch of the 
nominee and a copy of his/her curriculum vitae; and (3) the name, 
address, daytime telephone number, and email address at which the 
nominator can be contacted.
    The Department of Health and Human Services has special interest in 
assuring that advisory committees benefit from a broad and diverse 
range of perspectives. In support of that interest, we encourage 
nominations of all qualified candidates, and extend particular 
encouragement to nominations of women, racial and ethnic minorities, 
and those with disabilities.

    Dated: May 9, 2012.
Reva Harris,
Acting Director, Division of Policy and Information Coordination.
[FR Doc. 2012-11634 Filed 5-14-12; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4165-15-P