SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

As provided by 42 CFR 121.12, the Secretary established the Advisory Committee on Organ Transplantation. The Committee is governed by the Federal Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. Appendix 2), which sets forth standards for the formation and use of advisory committees.

The ACOT advises the Secretary on all aspects of organ procurement, allocation, and transplantation, and on other such matters that the Secretary determines. One of its principal functions is to advise the Secretary on Federal efforts to maximize the number of deceased donor organs made available for transplantation and to support the safety of living organ donation.

The ACOT consists of up to 25 members, who are Special Government Employees, and 5 ex-officio, non-voting members. Members and the Chair shall be appointed by the Secretary from individuals knowledgeable in such fields as deceased and living organ donation, health care public policy, transplantation medicine and surgery, critical care medicine and other medical ( printed page 28608) specialties involved in the identification and referral of donors, non-physician transplant professions, nursing, epidemiology, immunology, law and bioethics, behavioral sciences, economics and statistics, as well as representatives of transplant candidates, transplant recipients, living organ donors, and family members of deceased and living organ donors. Members shall not serve while they are also serving on the OPTN Board of Directors. To the extent practicable, Committee members should represent the minority, gender and geographic diversity of transplant candidates, transplant recipients, organ donors and family members served by the OPTN. The ex-officio, non-voting members shall include the Directors of the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; and the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration—or their designees.

Specifically, HRSA is requesting nominations for voting members of the ACOT representing: Health care public policy; transplantation medicine and surgery, including pediatric and heart/lung transplantation; critical care medicine; nursing; epidemiology and applied statistics; immunology; law and bioethics; behavioral sciences; economics and econometrics; organ procurement organizations; transplant candidates/recipients; transplant/donor family members; and living donors. Nominees will be invited to serve a 4-year term beginning after January 2013.

HHS will consider nominations of all qualified individuals with a view to ensuring that the Advisory Committee includes the areas of subject matter expertise noted above. Individuals may nominate themselves or other individuals, and professional associations and organizations may nominate one or more qualified persons for membership on the ACOT. Nominations shall state that the nominee is willing to serve as a member of the ACOT and appears to have no conflict of interest that would preclude the ACOT membership. Potential candidates will be asked to provide detailed information concerning financial interests, consultancies, research grants, and/or contracts that might be affected by recommendations of the Committee to permit evaluation of possible sources of conflicts of interest.

A nomination package should include the following information for each nominee: (1) A letter of nomination stating the name, affiliation, and contact information for the nominee, the basis for the nomination (i.e., what specific attributes, perspectives, and/or skills does the individual possess that would benefit the workings of ACOT), and the nominee's field(s) of expertise; (2) a biographical sketch of the nominee and a copy of his/her curriculum vitae; and (3) the name, address, daytime telephone number, and email address at which the nominator can be contacted.

The Department of Health and Human Services has special interest in assuring that advisory committees benefit from a broad and diverse range of perspectives. In support of that interest, we encourage nominations of all qualified candidates, and extend particular encouragement to nominations of women, racial and ethnic minorities, and those with disabilities.