Susan Sanchez, professor of infectious diseases, assistant director of the UGA Biomedical Health Science Institute and chair of One Health, was recently appointed to the National Institute of Health’s Council of Councils.
She began serving a five-year term on Oct. 1 with her first meeting in January. Membership includes professionals at the top of the research, academic and corporate entities involved in public health and medicine.
The 27-member Council of Councils advises the NIH director on matters related to the policies and activities of the Division of Program Coordination, Planning and Strategic Initiatives. The council also acts as an external advisory panel for the NIH Institutes and center directors during their “concept approval” stage of the NIH Roadmap Initiative review process. Roadmap Initiatives foster high-risk/high-reward research, enable the development of transformative tools and methodologies, fill fundamental knowledge gaps and/or change academic culture to foster collaboration. These initiatives are designed to pursue major opportunities and gaps in biomedical research that no single NIH institute could tackle alone, but which the agency as a whole can address to make the biggest impact possible on the progress of biomedical research.