[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 146 (Monday, August 1, 2022)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46970-46972]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2022-16346]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES


Solicitation of Nominations for Appointment to the Presidential 
Advisory Council on Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, Office of the 
Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is 
soliciting nominations of individuals who are interested in being 
considered a voting member or non-voting liaison member for appointment 
to the Presidential Advisory Council on Combating Antibiotic-Resistant 
Bacteria (Advisory Council). Nominations from qualified individuals who 
wish to be considered for appointment to either of these member 
categories of the Advisory Council are currently being accepted.

DATES: Nominations must be received no later than 12:00 a.m. ET on 
September 19th, 2022.

ADDRESSES: Information on how to submit a nomination is on the Advisory

[[Page 46971]]

Council website, https://www.hhs.gov/ash/advisory-committees/paccarb/index.html.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jomana Musmar, MS, Ph.D., Designated 
Federal Officer, Presidential Advisory Council on Combating Antibiotic-
Resistant Bacteria, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, U.S. 
Department of Health and Human Services, Room 715H, Hubert H. Humphrey 
Building, 200 Independence Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20201. Phone: 
(202) 746-1512; email: [email protected]. The Advisory Council charter may 
be accessed online at https://www.hhs.gov/ash/advisory-committees/paccarb/about-paccarb/charter/index.html. The charter includes detailed 
information about the Advisory Council's purpose, function, and 
structure.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Presidential Advisory Council on 
Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria (Advisory Council), established 
by Executive Order 13676, is continued by Section 505 of Public Law 
116-22, the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness and Advancing 
Innovation Act of 2019 (PAHPAIA). Activities and duties of the Advisory 
Council are governed by the provisions of the Federal Advisory 
Committee Act (FACA), Public Law 92-463, as amended (5 U.S.C. app.), 
which sets forth standards for the formation and use of federal 
advisory committees.
    The Advisory Council shall provide information and recommendations 
to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (Secretary) regarding 
programs and policies intended to reduce or combat antibiotic-resistant 
bacteria that may present a public health threat and improve 
capabilities to prevent, diagnose, mitigate, or treat such resistance. 
The Advisory Council shall function solely for advisory purposes.
    Such advice, information, and recommendations may be related to 
improving: the effectiveness of antibiotics; research and advance 
research on, and the development of, improved and innovative methods 
for combating or reducing antibiotic resistance, including new 
treatments, rapid point-of-care diagnostics, alternatives to 
antibiotics, including alternatives to animal antibiotics, and 
antimicrobial stewardship activities; surveillance of antibiotic-
resistant bacterial infections, including publicly available and up-to-
date information on resistance to antibiotics; education for health 
care providers and the public with respect to up-to-date information on 
antibiotic resistance and ways to reduce or combat such resistance to 
antibiotics related to humans and animals; methods to prevent or reduce 
the transmission of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections; 
including stewardship programs; and coordination with respect to 
international efforts in order to inform and advance the United States' 
capabilities to combat antibiotic resistance.
    The Advisory Council is authorized to consist of at least 30 
members, including the voting and non-voting members and the Chair and 
Vice Chair. The current composition of the Advisory Council consists of 
15 voting members, including the Chair and Vice Chair, eight non-voting 
liaison representative members, and 12 non-voting ex-officio members.
    This announcement is to solicit nominations to fill 16 positions 
that are scheduled to be vacated during the 2023 calendar year, nine of 
which are in the voting member category while the remaining seven are 
in the non-voting liaison member category. Newly appointed voting 
members are appointed to serve four year terms, and non-voting liaison 
members are appointed to serve for two year terms.
    The nine voting members sought for this solicitation will be 
selected from individuals who are engaged in: research on, or 
implementation of, interventions regarding efforts to preserve the 
effectiveness of antibiotics by optimizing their use; advancing 
research to develop improved methods for combating antibiotic 
resistance and conducting antibiotic stewardship; strengthening 
surveillance of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections; preventing 
the transmission of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections; 
advancing the development of rapid point-of-care and agricultural 
diagnostics; furthering research on new treatments for bacterial 
infections; developing alternatives to antibiotics for agricultural 
purposes; maximizing the dissemination of up-to-date information on the 
appropriate and proper use of antibiotics to the general public and 
human and animal health care providers; and improving international 
coordination of efforts to combat antibiotic resistance.
    The voting members will represent balanced points of view from 
human biomedical, public health, One Health, global antimicrobial 
resistance, environmental microbiology, animal agriculture (e.g., 
poultry, cattle, swine, aquaculture), and crop agricultural fields. The 
voting members may be physicians (e.g., infectious disease 
specialists), veterinarians (e.g., companion animal, food-animal), crop 
scientists, epidemiologists, microbiologists, or other health care 
professionals (e.g., nurses, pharmacists, others); individuals who have 
expertise and experience as consumer or patient advocates concerned 
with antibiotic resistance; individuals in the fields of agriculture 
and pharmaceuticals; and/or they also may be from state or local health 
agencies or public health organizations. The voting members will be 
appointed by the Secretary. All voting members will be classified as 
special government employees (SGEs).
    The seven non-voting liaison representatives are selected from 
organizations and/or interest groups that are involved in the advocacy, 
education, development, testing, licensing, production, procurement, 
distribution, and/or use of antibiotics and/or antibiotic research. 
Non-voting liaison representative members shall possess knowledge, 
skills, experience, and expertise necessary to inform the Advisory 
Council in generating intelligent recommendations with respect to the 
issues mandated by PAHPAIA. Individuals from the following sample 
sectors are being sought to serve as non-voting liaison 
representatives: (1) professional organizations or associations 
representing providers, professionals, or specialists (e.g., long-term 
care, outpatient) for human and/or animal health involved in infection 
control and prevention, antimicrobial stewardship, or antimicrobial 
resistance and use; this can include but is not limited to physicians, 
nurses, pharmacists, microbiologists, veterinarians, or scientists; (2) 
public health, environmental health, and/or animal health organizations 
or associations (state/territorial, county, or local) representing 
laboratories, health officials, epidemiologists, agricultural state 
departments, hospitals, or environmental associations; (3) other 
organizations representing patients and consumer advocates, hospitals, 
pharmaceutical industry, global health, food producers and retailers, 
or other commodity groups.
    Individuals who are appointed to serve as voting and non-voting 
liaison members may be allowed to receive per diem and reimbursement 
for any applicable expenses for travel that is performed to attend 
meetings of the Advisory Council as authorized by 5 U.S.C. 5703, for 
persons employed intermittently in the Government service. The Advisory 
Council meets, at a minimum, two times per year depending on the 
availability of funds. Meetings are open to the public, except as 
determined otherwise by the Secretary, or other official to whom the

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authority has been delegated, in accordance with guidelines under the 
Sunshine Act, 5 U.S.C. 552b(c).
    Every effort will be made to ensure that the membership of federal 
advisory committees is diverse, equitable, and fairly balanced in terms 
of the expertise represented. Detailed information on what is required 
in a nomination package and how to submit one is on the Advisory 
Council website, https://www.hhs.gov/ash/advisory-committees/paccarb/index.html.

B. Kaye Hayes,
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Infectious Disease, Director, Office of 
Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy (OIDP), Executive Director, 
Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS (PACHA).
[FR Doc. 2022-16346 Filed 7-29-22; 8:45 am]
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