A seat at the table: Membership in federal advisory committees evaluating public policy in genetics

C.E. Ard and M.R. Natowicz

American Journal of Public Health, 2001, vol. 91, issue 5, 787-790

Abstract: Objectives. This study examined who participates in federal government advisory committees regarding public policy in human and medical genetics, what parties they represent, and to what extent the general public is meaningfully represented. Methods, Analysis focused on 7 federal government documents published from January 1990 to February 1995. Advisors were categorized into 4 groups based on the professional affiliations that were listed in the publications. After a search of several references and data-bases, the study examined whether these individuals also had other affiliations not listed in the government publications. Results Individuals whose principal affiliations were with academia (n = 32: 44%) or industry (n= 19; 26%) represented nearly three fourths of the sample, followed by government employees (n= 13; 18%) and consumer advocates (n=8; 11%). At least 16% of the advisors serving on the federal committees, mostly members of academia, had a dual affiliation. Conclusions, These data indicate that the public has modest representation on key federal advisory committees making policy recommendations regarding human genetics technology and clinical practice and that there is ample room for additional public participation.

Date: 2001
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:2001:91:5:787-790_0

Access Statistics for this article

American Journal of Public Health is currently edited by Alfredo Morabia

More articles in American Journal of Public Health from American Public Health Association
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Christopher F Baum ().