2021 WINTER NEWS

Federal Tick-Borne Disease Working Group Gears Up to Produce Final Report to Congress by 2022 Efforts to focus on tick-borne diseases, examining research priorities, and identifying and addressing unmet needs.

By Dorothy Kupcha Leland

I n August 2021, the United States Department of Health and Human Services installed the final panel of the federal Tick-Borne Disease Working Group. The advisory body was created as part of the 21st Century Cures Act of 2016.

Tick Borne Disease Working Group

The legislation called for three different panels charged with creating Reports to Congress in 2018, 2020, and 2022. The Working Group is tasked with reviewing federal efforts related to tick-borne diseases, examining research priorities, and identifying and addressing unmet needs.

Co-chairs of the 2021–2022 panel are Holiday Goodreau, executive director of the LivLyme Foundation, and Dr. Linden Hu, professor of microbiology and medicine at Tufts University.

In addition to Goodreau and Hu, the new panel includes five public members:

  • Jennifer Platt, PhD, of Tick-borne Conditions United
  • Elizabeth Maloney, MD, of the Partnership for Tick-borne Diseases Education
  • Monica Embers, PhD, of the Tulane National Primate Research Center
  • Kirby Stafford III, PhD, of the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station
  • Sunil K. Sood, MD, a pediatric infectious disease specialist

The panel also includes seven representatives from federal agencies:

  • Ben Beard, PhD, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  • Captain Rebecca Bunnell, MPAS, PA-C, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
  • Dennis Dixon, PhD, National Institutes of Health
  • Robert J. Miller, PhD, US Department of Agriculture
  • CDR Todd Myers PhD, US Food and Drug Administration
  • Leith Jason States, MD, MPH, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health
  • Gabriella Zollner (Romero), PhD, US Department of Defense

The new panel set to work creating subcommittees, deciding what topics will be covered, and naming their co-chairs. Here’s what the group decided: …….Join or login below to continue reading.

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