| THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
_______________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release July 13, 2000
PRESIDENT CLINTON NAMES THIRTEEN MEMBERS TO THE WHITE HOUSE COMMISSION ON
COMPLEMENTARY AND ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE POLICY
President Clinton today announced the appointment of the following
members of the White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative
Medicine Policy: Chair: James S. Gordon, M.D.; George M. Bernier, Jr.,
M.D.; George Thomas DeVries, III; William R. Fair M.D.; Joseph J. Fins,
M.D.; Wayne B. Jonas, M.D.; Charlotte Rose Kerr, R.S.M.; Dean Ornish, M.D.;
Conchita M. Paz, M.D.; Buford L. Rolin; and Julia Scott. President
Clinton today also announced his intent to appoint Thomas M. Chappell and
Dr. Effie Poy Yew Chow as members of the White House Commission on
Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy.
Dr. James S. Gordon, of Washington, DC, who will serve as Chair of the
Commission, is currently the Director of the Center for Mind-Body Medicine.
Previously, he chaired the Program Advisory Council at the Office of
Alternative Medicine of the National Institute of Health. In addition to
maintaining a private practice in Psychiatry and Medicine, Dr. Gordon has
been a Clinical Professor at the Georgetown University School of Medicine
in the Departments of Psychiatry and Family Medicine since 1980. He is a
member of the National Institute of Health?s Cancer Advisory Panel and was
the Director of a Special Study of Alternative Services for the President?s
Commission on Mental Health. He has written extensively on the subjects of
psychiatry and alternative and holistic care, and serves on the Editorial
Boards of Alternative and Complementary Therapies and Alternative Therapies
in Health and Medicine. He received his A.B. from Harvard College and his
M.D. from Harvard Medical School.
Dr. George M. Bernier, Jr., of Galveston, TX, is a
hematologist/oncologist and is currently the Vice President for Education
at the University of Texas Medical Branch. Previously, he was Vice
President for Academic Affairs, Dean of Medicine, and a Professor of
Medicine at the University of Texas. Dr. Bernier has held academic
appointments at the University of Pittsburgh, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical
Center in Hanover, New Hampshire, and at Case Western Reserve University in
Cleveland, Ohio. He has published numerous articles and abstracts, and
several books. He received a B.A. degree from Boston College and a M.D.
degree from Harvard University.
Mr. George Thomas DeVries, III, of Rancho Santa Fe, CA, is Chairman,
President, CEO and co-founder of American Specialty Health and its
subsidiaries, American Specialty Health Plans, American Specialty Health
Networks, and American Specialty Health & Wellness. In his position, he
manages complementary and alternative health care benefits, networks and
services for over 60 health plans covering over 25 million Americans.
American Specialty Health Plans is a licensed specialty health plan
covering over 3.7 million Californians for chiropractic and acupuncture.
American Specialty Health Networks is a national health services
organization serving over 21 million Americans and offering a provider
network of over 19,000 chiropractors, acupuncturists, massage therapists,
dieticians, naturopaths, and fitness clubs. American Specialty Health &
Wellness is an alternative healthcare consumer products company offering
e-commerce and mail order. Mr. DeVries has published a number of articles
and has lectured on alternative health care in managed care and third-party
reimbursement. He received a B.A. from the University of California at San
Diego.
Dr. William R. Fair, M.D., of Long Boat Key, FL, was, until recently,
the Florence and Theodore Baumritter/Enid Ancell Chair of Urology, and was
Chief of the Urology Service at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in
New York City. Currently, he is Emeritus Professor of Urology at the Joan
and Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell University and Member
Emeritus at Memorial Sloan-Kettering. Dr. Fair serves on the Cancer
Advisory Panel for the National Center for Complementary and Alternative
Medicine. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Molecular Urology and the Associate
Editor of Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, and on the
editorial boards of other highly respected journals. He has published
extensively in the areas of urology and oncology. He chairs the Committee
on Complementary and Alternative Medicine of the American Urologic
Association, and is Chairman of the Clinical Advisory Board of Health LLC.
Dr. Fair received his B.S. from the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and
Science and his M.D. from Jefferson Medical College.
Dr. Joseph J. Fins, of New York, NY, is an internist and Director of
Medical Ethics at New York Weill Cornell Medical Center of New York -
Presbyterian Hospital, Associate Professor of Medicine and Medicine in
Psychiatry at the Joan and Sanford I. Weill Medical College of Cornell
University, Associate Professor in the Program in Clinical Epidemiology and
Health Services Research at Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical
Sciences, and Associate for Medicine at The Hastings Center. He lectures
extensively and has written widely in the field of Medical Ethics. Dr.
Fins received his B.A. from Wesleyan University and his M.D. from Cornell
University Medical College.
Sister Charlotte Rose Kerr, R.S.M., of Baltimore, MD, is a Registered
Nurse, a Practitioner of Traditional Acupuncture and, since 1977 a Senior
Faculty Member at the Traditional Acupuncture Institute. Previously, she
was an Assistant Professor of Nursing at the University of Maryland School
of Nursing. Sister Kerr has been a member of the Advisory Council of the
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Alternative Medicine Program. She has
spent several summers in Europe, studying such subjects as Theology and
Healing. In her work, Sister Kerr emphasizes the integration of Western
traditional medicine and complementary healing methods. Sister Kerr
received her B.S.N. from the University of Maryland School of Nursing. She
received her Master?s Degree in Public Health from the University of North
Carolina and another Master?s Degree in acupuncture from the College of
Traditional Chinese Medicine, U.K.
Dr. Wayne B. Jonas, of Alexandria, VA, is currently a member of the
Department of Family Medicine of the Uniformed Services University of the
Health Sciences F. Edward Hebert School of Medicine. Previously, Dr. Jonas
served as the Director of the Office of Alternative Medicine for the
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine at the National
Institutes of Health. Prior to that, he served as the Director of the
World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Traditional Medicine.
He has authored and co-authored numerous publications on alternative and
homeopathic treatment and care. Some of his current research includes
projects in environmental toxicology, neurotoxicology, stroke, and biofield
healing. Dr. Jonas received a B.A. from Davidson College and a M.D. from
Bowman Gray School of Medicine.
Dr. Dean Ornish, of Sausalito, CA, is the founder, president, and
director of the non-profit Preventive Medicine Research Institute. He is
Clinical Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San
Francisco, and a founder of the Osher Center for Integrative Medicine
there. He was the first to prove that heart disease is reversible by
changing diet and lifestyle. He has published many books and academic
papers and has received numerous awards in recognition of his work. Dr.
Ornish received a B.A. from the University of Texas and completed his
medical training at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Harvard
Medical School, and the Massachusetts General hospital. He was a clinical
fellow in medicine at the Harvard Medical School. Dr. Ornish was
recognized by Life magazine as ?one of the 50 most influential members of
his generation.?
Dr. Conchita M. Paz, of Las Cruces, NM, has maintained a private
practice, in which she specializes in family medicine, for ten years.
Currently, she serves as a part-time faculty member at the University of
New Mexico School of Medicine and at the Southern New Mexico Family
Practice Residency Program. She was Chairperson of the Family Practice
Department and serves on a number of committees at Memorial Medical Center.
Dr. Paz received her B.S. and M.D. degrees from the University of New
Mexico.
Mr. Buford L. Rolin, of Atmore, AL, has been the Health Administrator
for the Poarch Band of Creek Indians since 1984. He is a member of the
State of Alabama Public Health Advisory Board and a member of the Board of
Directors of the Creek Indian Heritage Memorial Association. Mr. Rolin is
currently the Chairman of the Creek Indian Arts Council. He is the former
Chairman of the National Indian Health Board, and he still serves as a
member of the Executive Committee and as a Member-At-Large. He has
received several awards from the National Indian Health Board, and he has
also received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Poarch Band of Creek
Indians. Mr. Rolin attended the Health Services Administrators Development
Program at the School of Community and Allied Health of the University of
Alabama and Pensacola Junior College.
Ms. Julia Scott, of Washington, DC, is President of the National Black
Women?s Health Project (NBWHP), a national membership organization that
focuses on wellness, self-help, and health advocacy. Previously, she was
Director of the Public Policy and Education Office of NBWHP. Ms. Scott was
Special Assistant to the President and Coordinator of the Adolescent
Pregnancy Child Watch at the Children?s Defense Fund. She has directed and
administered to several foundations and community health agencies and has
written numerous articles on African American Women?s health. Ms. Scott
was educated in nursing at the Waterbury Hospital School of Nursing.
Mr. Thomas Chappell, of Kennebunk, ME, is the co-founder and CEO of
Tom?s of Maine, which he co-founded with his wife Kate in 1970. It is a
company that produces innovative, natural personal products and natural
wellness products in a caring and creative work environment. Mr. Chappell
is founder and CEO of the Saltwater Institute, a learning institute of
leaders seeking to integrate their values into their personal and
professional lives. He is active in many philanthropic organizations, among
them an Advisory Council member for the Center for Study of Values in
Public Life at Harvard Divinity School, Harvard Divinity School Dean?s
Council, and a Board Member of the Nature Conservancy of Maine. He has
written two books, The Soul of a Business and Managing Upside Down. Mr.
Chappell received his B.A. from Trinity College and his Master?s in
Theology from the Harvard Divinity School.
Dr. Effie Poy Yew Chow, of San Francisco, CA, is the founder of the
East West Academy of Healing Arts in 1973 and, more recently, The Qigong
Institute, the American Quigong Association, and the World Qigong
Federation. She is the recipient of over twenty awards including ?The
Humanitarian of the Year 1999? and the ?Visionary of the Decade 2000?
awards. She has been the only Qigong Grandmaster and acupuncturist
involved in the development of national health policies within DHHS. She
was also involved in the first Ad Hoc Advisory Panel of the Office of
Alternative Medicine at NIH. She has made over two hundred and fifty media
appearances and interviews in the area of complementary and alternative
medicine. Dr. Chow received her training in Traditional Chinese Medicine
and Qigong in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Canada, and the United States. She
is a registered public health and psychiatric nurse and has received a
Master?s degree and a Ph.D.
The White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine
shall provide a report, through the Secretary of Health and Human Services,
to the President on legislative and administrative recommendations for
assuring that public policy maximizes the benefits to Americans of
complementary and alternative medicine.
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