AHRQ Announces New Members of the U.S. Preventive Services ...( ROCKVILLE Md. March 11 -- Carolyn M....),Health

ROCKVILLE, Md., March 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Carolyn M. Clancy, M.D., director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, today announced the appointment of three new members of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force. Susan Curry, Ph.D., of Iowa City; Joy Melnikow, M.D., M.P.H., of Sacramento; and Wanda Nicholson, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A., of Baltimore will join the Task Force this month.

The Task Force, which is sponsored by AHRQ, consists of 16 health care experts in the specialties of family medicine, pediatrics, internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, geriatrics, preventive medicine, public health, behavioral medicine and nursing.

Dr. Curry is the dean of the College of Public Health and distinguished professor of health management and policy at the University of Iowa. She is currently vice chair of the American Legacy Foundation's board of directors and a member of the National Cancer Institute's board of scientific advisors. Dr. Curry's research focuses on disease prevention and behavioral risk factor modification with a primary focus on tobacco use. Dr. Curry's research in tobacco includes studies of motivation to quit smoking, randomized trials of promising smoking cessation and prevention interventions, evaluations of the use and cost effectiveness of tobacco cessation treatments under different health insurance plans and health care costs and utilization associated with tobacco cessation.

Dr. Melnikow is a professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine and associate director of the Center for Healthcare Policy and Research at the University of California Davis. She is currently a deputy editor of Medical Care, standing member of the health services organization and delivery study section at the National Institutes of Health, contributing member of the California Health Benefits Program Task Force for the University of California
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