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Working Group Selects Sub-Committee Chairs/Cong. Smith Reports on Working Group

January 8, 2018

The Lyme Disease Association Inc. announces that the new HHS Tick-Borne Disease Working Group (TBDWG) has selected co-chairs from the TBDWG for its 6 newly formed sub-committees. LDA President Pat Smith will be co-chair the Disease Vectors, Surveillance and Prevention (includes epidemiology of tick-borne diseases) Subcommittee. The other co-chair is Dr. Ben Beard, Acting Deputy Director, Division of Vector-Borne Diseases. The co-chairs will work together to select members for their committee.

Congressman Chris Smith & Pat Smith, LDA Pres.The ThTTTTTThe The Lyme Disease Association Inc. announces that the new HHS Tick-Borne Disease Working Group (TBDWG) has selected co-chairs from the TBDWG for its 6 newly formed sub-committees. LDA President Pat Smith will be co-chair the Disease Vectors, Surveillance and Prevention (includes epidemiology of tick-borne diseases) Subcommittee. The other co-chair is Dr. Ben Beard, Acting Deputy Director, Division of Vector-Borne Diseases. The co-chairs will work together to select members for their committee.

Reports from the subcommittees will be presented to the TBDWG for that group’s public deliberation. The Committees selected by the TBDWG and the newly designated chairs are as follows:

1. Disease Vectors, Surveillance and Prevention (includes epidemiology of tick-borne diseases). (Pat Smith/Ben Beard)

2. Pathogenesis, Transmission, and Treatment (Wendy Adams/Estelle Jones)

3.Testing & Diagnostics (includes lab-based diagnoses & clinical-diagnoses) (Lise Nigrovic/Vanila Singh/Designee)

4. Access to Care Services and Support to Patients (Karen Vanderhoof Forschner/Scott Cooper)

5. Vaccine and Therapeutics (Dennis Dixon/ Robert Smith)

6. Other Tick-Borne Diseases and Co-infections (Richard Horowitz/Allen Richards)

According to HHS, each subcommittee will be led by two subcommittee co-chairs. The co-chairs of each committee will work with the Working Group Chair, Vice Chair, the Designated Federal Official (DFO) and his alternate, and the other subcommittee co-chairs to align the work of the subcommittees with the goals and priorities of the Working Group and to conduct the work in a similar manner across subcommittees. It is expected that each subcommittee will have about 8-10 members, including two members who are members of the Working Group.

Congressman Christopher Smith Reports on HHS Working Group Creation & History
Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-4) has reported in his newsletter to his district on the working group formation and on the appointment of Pat Smith as a member of the working group. He includes a history of the process of getting legislation passed to create the TBDWG.

UPDATE: HHS has appointed a new member, Robert Smith, MD, MPH, for the Working Group to fill the vacancy left by Dr. Gary Wormser’s withdrawal. New member Appointed to HHS Working Group