[Federal Register Volume 78, Number 156 (Tuesday, August 13, 2013)]
[Notices]
[Page 49276]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2013-19574]



[[Page 49276]]

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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 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 Public Law 92-463, was 
chartered on September 1, 2000.

DATES: The agency must receive nominations on or before 30 days after 
date of publication in the Federal Register.

ADDRESSES: All nominations should be submitted to the Executive 
Secretary, ACOT, 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 Secretary, Advisory Committee on Organ Transplantation, 
Healthcare Systems Bureau, HRSA, at the above address, or via email to: 
[email protected] and [email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Patricia A. Stroup, M.B.A., M.P.A., 
Executive Secretary, ACOT, at (301) 443-1127 or email [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: As provided by 42 CFR 121.12, the Secretary 
established the ACOT. The ACOT 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 on all aspects of organ procurement, 
allocation, transplantation, and on other such matters that the 
Secretary determines. One of its principal functions is to advise the 
Secretary on federal efforts to maximize the number of deceased donor 
organs made available for transplantation and to support the safety of 
living organ donation.
    The ACOT consists of up to 25 members, who are Special Government 
Employees, and 5 ex-officio, non-voting members. Members and the Chair 
shall be appointed by the Secretary from individuals knowledgeable in 
such fields as deceased and living 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, living organ donors, and family 
members of deceased and living organ donors. Members shall not serve 
while they are also serving on the OPTN Board of Directors. To the 
extent practicable, Committee members should represent minority, 
gender, and geographic diversity of transplant candidates, transplant 
recipients, organ donors, and family members served by the OPTN. The 
ex-officio, non-voting members shall include the Directors of the 
National Institutes of Health; the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention; the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; the 
Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; and 
the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration--or their 
designees.
    Specifically, HRSA is requesting nominations for voting members of 
the ACOT representing: Health care public policy; transplantation 
medicine and surgery, including pediatric and heart/lung 
transplantation; critical care medicine; nursing; epidemiology and 
applied statistics; immunology; law and bioethics; behavioral sciences; 
economics and econometrics; organ procurement organizations; transplant 
candidates/recipients; transplant/donor family members; and living 
donors. Nominees will be invited to serve up to a 4-year term beginning 
after January 2014.
    The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will consider 
nominations of all qualified individuals with a view to ensuring that 
the ACOT 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 ACOT 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, perspectives, and/or skills does the 
individual possess that would benefit the workings of ACOT), 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, 
address, daytime telephone number, and email address at which the 
nominator can be contacted.
    HHS 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: August 6, 2013.
Bahar Niakan,
Director, Division of Policy and Information Coordination.
[FR Doc. 2013-19574 Filed 8-12-13; 8:45 am]
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