Bethesda, Maryland -- Five new members have been appointed to the Advisory Committee on Research on Women's Health (ACRWH), which will hold its semiannual meeting on March 27 at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Md. The new members are: Constance Howes, J.D., President and Chief Executive Officer of Women and Infants' Hospital in Rhode Island; Nancy J. Norton, Founder and President of the International Foundation for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders; Eugene P. Orringer, M.D., Executive Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Faculty Development in the School of Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Susan P. Sloan, M.D., Associate Professor of Medicine and Associate Residency Program Director of Internal Medicine at the James H. Quillen College of Medicine, East Tennessee State University; and Barbara W.K. Yee, Ph.D., Professor and Chair of Family and Consumer Sciences at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.

The NIH Revitalization Act of 1993 charges the Advisory Committee with advising the Director of the Office of Research on Women's Health on appropriate research activities to be undertaken by the national research institutes with respect to women's health research. The committee is composed of up to 18 members who are appointed by the NIH Director.

Ms. Howes brings to the ACRWH many years of experience in hospital and health care administration. She is President and CEO of Women and Infants' Hospital in Rhode Island, a regional perinatal center affiliated with Brown Medical School providing tertiary and primary services to women and infants. Ms. Howes has served as general counsel to businesses with concentration in general business and corporate law, administrative law, and hospital law, and as General Counsel of Care, New England Hospital System. Her legal expertise and administrative perspective will provide insights into trends in health care that affect women's health research.
As Founder and President of the International Foundation for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders (IFFGD) and as Chairperson of the Digestive Disease National Coalition, Ms. Norton brings the patient support group perspective to the ACRWH. Ms. Norton founded the IFFGD 14 years ago and continues to serve the digestive disease community in this capacity. She dedicates a great deal of time and effort to seeking scientific progress on functional gastrointestinal disorders, many of which disproportionately affect women. Her extensive knowledge in women's issues will make her a valuable asset to the committee.

More Voices