[Federal Register Volume 70, Number 42 (Friday, March 4, 2005)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10657-10658]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 05-4223]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Health Resources and Services Administration


Advisory Committee on Organ Transplantation; Request for 
Nominations for Voting Members

AGENCY: Health Resources and Services Administration, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) is 
requesting nominations to fill up to 13 vacancies on the Advisory 
Committee on Organ Transplantation (ACOT). The ACOT was established by 
the Amended Final Rule of the Organ Procurement and Transplantation 
Network (OPTN) (42 CFR Part 121) and, in accordance with Pub. L. 92-
463, was chartered on September 1, 2000.

DATES: The agency must receive nominations on or before April 4, 2005.

ADDRESSES: All nominations should be submitted to the Executive 
Director, Advisory Committee on Organ Transplantation, Healthcare 
Systems Bureau, HRSA, Parklawn Building, Room 12C-06, 5600 Fishers 
Lane, Rockville, Maryland 20857. Federal Express, Airborne, UPS, etc., 
mail delivery should be addressed to Executive Director, Advisory 
Committee on Organ Transplantation, Healthcare Systems Bureau, HRSA, at 
the above address.

[[Page 10658]]


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Thomas E. Balbier, Jr., Executive 
Director, Advisory Committee on Organ Transplantation, at (301) 443-
1896 or e-mail [email protected] or Sherry Whipple, Public 
Health Analyst, Division of Transplantation, at (301) 443-2764 or e-
mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: As provided by 42 CFR 121.12 (64 FR 56661), 
the Secretary established the Advisory Committee on Organ 
Transplantation. The Committee is governed by the Federal Advisory 
Committee Act (5 U.S.C. Appendix 2), which sets forth standards for the 
formation and use of advisory committees.
    The ACOT advises the Secretary, acting through the Administrator, 
HRSA, on all aspects of organ procurement, allocation, and 
transplantation, and on other such matters that the Secretary 
determines. One of its principal functions shall be to advise the 
Secretary on ways to maximize Federal efforts to increase living and 
deceased organ donation nationally. Matters that may be reviewed by the 
ACOT include the following:
     Proposed enforceable OPTN policies submitted for 
Secretarial approval;
     Organ allocation policies of the OPTN;
     The OPTN's system of collecting, disseminating and 
ensuring the validity, accuracy, timeliness and usefulness of data;
     The current state of knowledge regarding transplantation; 
and
     Additional medical, public health, ethical, legal, 
coverage and financing issues and socioeconomic issues relevant to 
transplantation.
    The ACOT consists of up to 25 members, including the Chair. Members 
and Chair shall be selected by the Secretary from individuals 
knowledgeable in such fields as organ donation, health care public 
policy, transplantation medicine and surgery, critical care medicine 
and other medical specialties involved in the identification and 
referral of donors, non-physician transplant professions, nursing, 
epidemiology, immunology, law and bioethics, behavioral sciences, 
economics and statistics, as well as representatives of transplant 
candidates, transplant recipients, organ donors, and family members. To 
the extent practicable, Committee members should represent the 
minority, gender and geographic diversity of transplant candidates, 
transplant recipients, organ donors and family members served by the 
OPTN. In addition, the Director, Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention; the Administrator, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid 
Services; the Commissioner, Food and Drug Administration; and the 
Director, National Institutes of Health (or the designees of such 
officials) serve as non-voting ex officio members.
    Specifically, HRSA is requesting nominations for up to 13 voting 
members of the ACOT representing: Thoracic transplant surgery, thoracic 
transplant medicine (physicians), liver transplant surgery, pediatrics, 
ethics, organ procurement organizations, transplant candidates/
recipients, and transplant/donor family members. Nominees will be 
invited to serve a 4-year term beginning approximately July 27, 2005, 
and ending July 26, 2009.
    HHS will consider nominations of all qualified individuals with a 
view to ensuring that the Advisory Committee includes the areas of 
subject matter expertise noted above. Individuals may nominate 
themselves or other individuals, and professional associations and 
organizations may nominate one or more qualified persons for membership 
on the ACOT. Nominations shall state that the nominee is willing to 
serve as a member of the ACOT and appears to have no conflict of 
interest that would preclude the ACOT membership. Potential candidates 
will be asked to provide detailed information concerning financial 
interests, consultancies, research grants, and/or contracts that might 
be affected by recommendations of the Committee to permit evaluation of 
possible sources of conflicts of interest.
    A nomination package should include the following information for 
each nominee: (1) A letter of nomination stating the name, affiliation, 
and contact information for the nominee, the basis for the nomination 
(i.e., what specific attributes recommend him/her for service in this 
capacity), and the nominee's field(s) of expertise; (2) a biographical 
sketch of the nominee and a copy of his/her curriculum vitae; and (3) 
the name, return address, and daytime telephone number at which the 
nominator can be contacted.
    The Department of Health and Human Services has special interest in 
assuring that women, minority groups, and the physically disabled are 
adequately represented on advisory committees; and therefore, extends 
particular encouragement to nominations for appropriately qualified 
female, minority, or disabled candidates.

    Dated: February 24, 2005.
Elizabeth M. Duke,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 05-4223 Filed 3-3-05; 8:45 am]
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