[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 35 (Thursday, February 21, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Pages 12062-12063]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-04036]
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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Nominations to the Advisory Committee on Blood and Tissue Safety
and Availability
AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, Office of the
Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services.
ACTION: Notice.
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SUMMARY: The Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH) is
seeking nominations of qualified individuals to be considered for
appointment to the Advisory Committee on Blood and Tissue Safety and
Availability (ACBTSA). The ACBTSA is a federal advisory committee
within the Department of Health and Human Services. Management support
for the activities of this Committee is the responsibility of the OASH.
The qualified individuals will be nominated to the Secretary of Health
and Human Services for consideration of appointment as members of the
ACBTSA. Members of the Committee, including the Chair, are appointed by
the Secretary. Members are invited to serve on the Committee for up to
four-year terms.
DATES: All nominations must be received not later than 4:00 p.m. EDT on
March 15, 2013, at the address listed below.
ADDRESSES: All nominations should be mailed or delivered to Mr. James
Berger, Senior Advisor for Blood Policy; Division of Blood and Tissue
Safety and Availability, Office of HIV/AIDS and Infectious Disease
Policy, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health; Department of
Health and Human Services; 1101 Wootton Parkway, Suite 250; Rockville,
MD 20852. Telephone: (240) 453-8803.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. James Berger, Senior Advisor for
Blood Policy. Contact information for Mr. Berger is provided above.
A copy of the Committee charter and roster of the current
membership can be obtained by contacting Mr. Berger or by accessing the
ACBTSA Web site at http://www.hhs.gov/bloodsafety.http://www.hhs.gov/bloodsafety.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The ACBTSA provides advice to the Secretary,
through the Assistant Secretary for Health. The Committee provides
advice on a range of policy issues to include: (1) Identification of
public health issues through surveillance of blood, and tissue safety
issues with national biovigilance data tools; (2) identification of
public health issues that effect availability of blood, blood products,
and tissues; (3) broad public health, ethical and legal issues related
to the safety of blood, blood products, and tissues; (4) the impact of
various economic factors (e.g., product cost and supply) on safety and
availability of blood, blood products, and tissues; (5) risk
communications related to blood transfusion and tissue transplantation;
and (6) identification of infectious disease transmission issues for
blood, organs, blood stem cells and tissues.
The Committee consists of 23 voting members: there are 14 public
members, including the Chair, and nine (9) individuals designated to
serve as official representative members of the blood, blood products,
tissue and organ professional organizations or business sectors. The
public members are selected from state and local organizations, patient
advocacy groups, provider organizations, academic researchers,
ethicists, physicians, surgeons, scientists, risk communication
experts, consumer advocates, legal organizations, and from among
communities of persons who are frequent recipients of blood or blood
products or who have received tissues or organs.
All ACBTSA members are authorized to receive the prescribed per
diem allowance and reimbursement for travel expenses that are incurred
to attend meetings and conduct committee-related business, in
accordance with Standard Government Travel Regulations. Individuals who
are appointed to serve as public members are authorized also to receive
a stipend for attending Committee meetings and to carry out other
Committee-related business. Individuals who are appointed to serve as
representative members for a particular interest group or industry are
not authorized to receive a stipend for the performance of these
duties.
This announcement is to solicit nominations of qualified candidates
to fill two positions in the public member category that will be
vacated during the 2013 calendar year.
Nominations
In accordance with the charter, persons nominated for appointment
as members of the ACBTSA should be among authorities knowledgeable in
blood banking, transfusion medicine, plasma therapies, transfusion and
transplantation safety, bioethics, public health economics and/or
related disciplines and/or related consumer/patient advocacy.
Nominations should be typewritten. The following information should be
included in the package of material submitted for each individual being
nominated for consideration of appointment: (a) The name, return
address, daytime telephone number, and affiliation(s) of the individual
being nominated, the basis for the individual's nomination, the
nominated individual's area of expertise, and a statement bearing an
original signature of the nominated individual that, if appointed, he
or she is willing to serve as a member of the committee; (b) the name,
return address, and daytime telephone number at which the nominator may
be contacted. Organizational nominators must identify a principal
contact person in addition to the contact; and (c) a copy of a current
curriculum vitae or resume for the nominated individual.
Individuals can nominate themselves for consideration of
appointment to the committee. All nominations must include the required
information. Incomplete nominations will not be processed for
consideration. The letter from the nominator and certification of the
nominated individual must bear original signatures; reproduced copies
of these signatures are not acceptable.
The Department makes every effort to ensure that the membership of
HHS federal advisory committees is fairly
[[Page 12063]]
balanced in terms of points of view represented and the functions to be
performed by the advisory committee. Every effort is made to ensure
that the views of women, all ethnic and racial groups, and people with
disabilities are represented on HHS federal advisory committees.
Therefore, the Department encourages nominations of qualified
candidates from these groups. The Department also takes into
consideration geographic diversity in the composition of the committee.
Appointment to this committee shall be made without discrimination on
the basis of age, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation,
disability, and cultural, religious, or socioeconomic status.
Individuals who are appointed as public members of federal advisory
committees are classified as special government employees (SGEs). SGEs
who are appointed to serve as members of federal advisory committees
are subject to the ethical standards of conduct for federal employees.
Upon entering the position and annually throughout the term of
appointment, the public members appointed to the ACBTSA will be
required to complete and submit a report of their financial holdings,
including information about consultancies and research grants or
contracts, so that an ethics analysis can be conducted to ensure that
members are not involved in activities in the private sector that may
pose potential conflicts of interest for performance of their official
duties for the Committee.
Dated: February 15, 2013.
James J. Berger,
Senior Advisor for Blood Policy.
[FR Doc. 2013-04036 Filed 2-20-13; 8:45 am]
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