Claire Pomeroy has been tapped to serve on the National Institutes of Health Advisory Committee on Research on Women’s Health.

Pomeroy, the UC Davis vice chancellor for Human Health Sciences and the dean of the School of Medicine, was one of five new members chosen for the committee, the NIH announced on July 20. The committee advises the Office of Research on Women's Health on the following issues:

• appropriate research activities to be undertaken by the national research institutes on women’s health;
• research on sex and gender differences in clinical trials, and
• research on women’s health conditions that require an interdisciplinary approach.

Members of the advisory committee are typically physicians, practitioners, scientists, and other health professionals. The NIH statement noted that Pomeroy fosters an "institutional commitment to address the social determinants of health."

Pomeroy, an expert in infectious diseases and a professor of internal medicine and microbiology and immunology, founded the Center for Reducing Health Disparities and led the establishment of Rural-PRIME, a program specifically designed to prepare physicians to practice in underserved rural communities. She also leads an active research team studying host responses to viral infections, is a long-time advocate for patients with HIV/AIDS, and has a special interest in health care policy.

Joining Pomeroy on the advisory commitee are Francisco Garcia, director of the University of Arizona Center of Excellence in Women's Health; Ronda S. Henry-Tillman, a surgical oncologist specializing in women’s oncology at the University of Arkansas Medical Center; Karen E. Kim, an associate professor of medicine in gastroenterology at the University of Chicago; and Paul F. Terranov, vice chancellor for research and president of the Research Institute at the Kansas University Medical Center.

"The wealth of diverse experiences and talents brought by these five individuals will enhance the entire committee's goal of fulfilling our ORWH mandate," said Vivian W. Pinn, director of the Office of Research on Women's Health.

The NIH includes 27 institutes and centers and is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The primary federal agency for conducting and supporting medical research, it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases.

Read the full NIH news release at www.nih.gov/news/health/jul2010/od-20.htm