The National Institutes of Health has announced the appointment of eight individuals to the NIH Council of Councils. The council was established to advise the NIH director on policies and activities of the Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives (DPCPSI), including making recommendations on research that represents important areas of emerging scientific opportunities, rising public health challenges, or knowledge gaps that deserve special emphasis or would otherwise benefit from strategic planning and coordination.

The council is composed of 27 members nominated by the NIH Institutes and Centers (ICs) and offices within the Office of the Director (OD). Council members bring knowledge of IC’s and OD office missions and operations, not as official representatives, but to provide advice beyond the research agenda of any individual IC. 

The following members will serve terms on the council through Oct. 31, 2017:

• Sharon Anderson, M.D., Oregon Health & Science University, Portland
• Mary Lindsey Carnes, M.D., M.S., University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Hakon Heimer, M.S., Schizophrenia Research Forum, Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, Providence, R.I.
• Terry L. Jernigan, Ph.D., University of California, San Diego
• Vivian S. Lee, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A., University of Utah, Salt Lake City
• Kimberly K. Leslie, M.D., University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, Iowa City
• Guillermina Lozano, Ph.D., the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston
• Keith A. Reimann, D.V.M., University of Massachusetts Medical School, Boston