Role of the External Advisory Board

The advice of the External Advisory Board (EAB) represents a crucial ‘reality check’ of the Center’s activities and progress in achieving its goals.  The EAB meets annually to review Center progress towards achieving its stated goals, based on presentations by the Director, and by Disease and Facility Core leaders. The EAB will provide verbal feedback during the site visit and provide a written evaluation detailing their evaluation of progress, new opportunities, or other potential changes in direction. IAB Members are also asked to provide reviews of Pilot Projects in their areas of expertise.

Over the past 5 years, the Center’s basic structure was significantly modified to focus efforts around Disease Cores, integrate basic and clinical research through the development of a comprehensive Integrative Health Sciences Facility Core, and incorporate emerging technologies into the Facility Cores. In view of these changes, the Center assembled a new EAB by identifying and inviting leaders in interdisciplinary research. The current Board, Chaired by John Groopman (Johns Hopkins U.), first met in 2006 and made important recommendations in reformulating the operational structure of the CEED. The members include:

• John Groopman, Ph.D., Anna M. Baetjer Professor and Chair, Department of Environmental Health Sciences and PI, NIEHS Core Center Grant, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University (Environmental Epidemiology and Cancer).
• Michael Kleinman, Ph.D., Adjunct Professor, Community and Environmental Medicine, School of Medicine, University of California, Irvine (Exposure Science).
• David Peden, M.D., Professor of Pediatrics, and Director of the Center for Environmental Medicine, Asthma and Lung Biology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (translational, clinical and cardiopulmonary sciences).
• Martin Philbert, Ph.D., Professor, Environmental Health Sciences, Senior Associate Dean, School of Public Health, University of Michigan (neurotoxicology).
• Sara Quandt, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Prevention, Wake Forest University School of Medicine (COEC).
• David Savitz, M.D., Charles W. Bluhdorn Professor of Community and Preventive Medicine, Director, Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Disease Prevention Institute, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York (environmental epidemiology and statistics).
• Cheryl Walker, Ph.D., Ruth and Walter Sterling Professor of Carcinogenicity, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center (cell biology and cancer prevention).

Invitations to serve on the EAB are based on multiple criteria, including familiarity with NIEHS Core Centers programs and scientific excellence in specific areas of Center research.  Recommendations for EAB members come from the Center membership at large and are discussed by the IAB. As the Center continues to grow and evolve, members may be added to the EAB in areas of needed expertise. EAB members normally serve a term of five years. Should a member resign, input on replacement will be sought at the monthly NIEHS Internal Advisory Board meeting.