Public Policy Update
It may come as a surprise to many psychologists that there are more than 1,000 federal advisory committees and councils that make important policy recommendations each year. These groups advise agency directors, help determine program priorities and in some cases serve as the highest level of merit review before research and service grants are funded.
Each of the 27 institutes and centers at the National Institutes of Health has at least one such council or committee. Likewise, every division at the National Science Foundation and each of the centers of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has a committee, as do many other federal agencies. An appointment to one of these prestigious committees or councils gives psychologists a significant opportunity to serve the field and the agencies that fund scientific research and mental health services. Such groups often have only one psychologist member, so he or she becomes a de facto ambassador from the behavioral sciences.
The APA Public Policy Office (PPO) salutes these psychologists who give so much of their time to promoting research and services. Visit the PPO Web site at www.apa.org/ppo/issues/fedadviscomm.html for the most updated list of psychologists on federal advisory committees. PPO seeks to compile a complete list of psychologists serving on committees and councils but is not collecting names of those serving on peer-review committees. If you are a member of a council but not listed, send an e-mail to ppo@apa.org. At Monitor press time, the list was as follows:
National Science Foundation
Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences Advisory Committee Steve Ceci, PhD Cornell University Shari Diamond, PhD Northwestern University William Hall, PhD University of Maryland Leila Gleitman, PhD University of Pennsylvania
National Institutes of Health
National Cancer Institute, Board of Scientific Advisers David Abrams, PhD Brown University/Miriam Hospital
National Advisory Eye Council Gordon Legge, PhD University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis
National Advisory Council for Human Genome Research Kim Nickerson, PhD APA Minority Fellowship Program
Research Advisers for Ethical, Legal and Social Issues Vivian Ota Wang, PhD Arizona State University Tempe Kim Nickerson, PhD APA Minority Fellowship Program
National Advisory Council on Aging Ilene Siegler, PhD Duke University
National Advisory Committee on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism Sandra Brown, PhD University of California, San Diego Stephanie O'Malley, PhD Yale University School of Medicine
National Advisory Council on Child Health and Human Development Jack Fletcher, PhD University of Texas Health Sciences Center Frances Horowitz, PhD City University of New York Jacquelynne Eccles, PhD University of Michigan (ad hoc member)
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Board of Scientific Counselors Richard Lerner, PhD Tufts University
National Institute of Deafness and Communicative Disorders Advisory Council Patricia D. Cayne, PhD New York, N.Y.
National Advisory Council on Drug Abuse Dorothy Hatsukami, PhD University of Minnesota School of Medicine Steven Hayes, PhD University of Nevada, Reno A. Thomas McLellan, PhD University of Pennsylvania Jose Szapocznik, PhD University of Miami School of Medicine
National Advisory Mental Health Council Susan Folkman, PhD University of California, San Francisco Megan Gunnar, PhD University of Minnesota Susan Essock, PhD Mt. Sinai School of Medicine Larry Squire, PhD Veterans Administration Hospital, San Diego Karen Dineen-Wagner, PhD University of Texas Medical Branch Peter Salovey, PhD Yale University
National Advisory Nursing Council Jacqueline Dunbar-Jacob, PhD University of Pittsburgh School of Nursing Louis Burgio, PhD University of Alabama
Fogarty International Center Board of Regents Sharon Ramey, PhD Georgetown University School of Nursing
National Institutes of Health, Office of Women's Health Research Advisory Council Sally Shumaker, PhD Wake Forest University Bowman Gray School of Medicine
National Institutes of Health, Council of Public Representatives Leonard Tamura, PhD Lakewood, Colo.
National Advisory Committee for Complementary and Alternative Medicine Alan Leshner, PhD American Association for the Advancement of Science
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
Center for Substance Abuse Prevention Advisory Committee Jean Lau Chin, EdD California School of Professional Psychology Judith Tellerman, PhD University of Illinois College of Medicine
Center for Substance Abuse Treatment Advisory Committee Pamela Jumper Thurman, PhD Colorado State University
Center for Mental Health Services Advisory Committee Timothy A. Kelly, PhD Fuller Graduate School of Psychology
Advisory Committee for Women's Services Deborah Jones-Saumty, PhD American Indian Associates Catherine M. Shisslak, PhD University of Arizona College of Medicine Helen Coons, PhD Women's Mental Health Associates
U.S. Public Health Service
Advisory Committee on Federal Statistics Vickie Mays, PhD University of CaliforniaLos Angeles
Department of Education
Institute for Educational Research National Board for Education Sciences Joseph K. Torgesen, PhD Florida State University Herbert John Walberg, PhD University of Illinois at Chicago (emeritus)
Department of Health and Human Services
National Advisory Council for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Jessie Groman, PhD Center for the Advancement of Health
APA's Public Policy Office puts forward names of qualified psychologists to serve on federal advisory committees and to offer support to appointees. If you have suggestions for names of psychologists, send them (along with the name of the appropriate advisory committee) to ppo@apa.org.