Federal Comparative-Effectiveness Research Agenda Gets Underway

President Obama’s plan for increasing drug comparative-effectiveness research is moving forward. The 15 members of the Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research, which was created to manage the $1.1-billion allocation designated for the research in Obama’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, were named last week, according to a Mar. 19, 2009, press release from the US Department of Health and Human Services (see back story, Stimulus Bill Opens Door to Comparative Effectiveness). The new members, largely from HHS, are listed below and their full bios can be found here.

• Anne C. Haddix, 
chief policy officer, Office of Strategy and Innovation
 at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

• Thomas B. Valuck, 
medical officer and senior advisor at the Center for Medicare Management
 and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

• Peter Delany, director, Office of Applied Studies, SAMHSA

• Carolyn M. Clancy, director, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, 
at the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)

• Deborah Parham Hopson, associate administrator, HIV/AIDS Bureau
, Health Resources and Services Administration

• David Hunt, chief medical officer, Office of the National Coordinator

• James Scanlon, 
acting assistant secretary for Planning and Evaluation

• Elizabeth Nabel, director, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, 
National Institutes of Health

• Garth N. Graham, deputy assistant secretary, Office of Minority Health

• Jesse L. Goodman, acting chief medical officer, US Food and Drug Administration
, and director, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, FDA

• Michael Marge, acting director, Office on Disability

• Neera Tanden, counselor, 
Office of the Secretary, HHS

• Joel Kupersmith, chief research and development officer, 
Veterans Administration

• Michael Kilpatrick, director of strategic communications for the Military Health System, 
US Department of Defense

• Ezekiel J. Emanuel, special advisor for health policy
, Office of Management and Budget

The Act placed the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in charge of recommending research priorities for the funds. IOM held its first agenda meeting, including representatives from the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the Association for Clinical Research Organizations, and the National Pharmaceutical Council, on Mar. 20, 2009, in Washington, DC. IOM is accepting comments through Mar. 27, 2009, on funding priorities. IOM’s first report is due to Congress and the president no later than June 30, 2009.