Professor to Head Board of Foundation

Norman Anderson, professor of health and social behavior in the Department of Health and Social Behavior, has been named president of the Board of Directors of Starbright, a nonprofit foundation that works to improve the quality of life of children living with serious illnesses. The foundation uses the technology, entertainment and health care industries to create fun projects for sick children.

Prior to coming to HSPH, Anderson was the founding director of the National Institutes of Health Office of Behavioral and Social Science Research.

OMB Office Seeks Students and Postdocs

The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in Washington DC, headed by John Graham, former director of the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis on leave from the school, is searching for five policy analysts. The positions will support OIRA’s technical capabilities in engineering, toxicology, public health, risk assessment and health economics, as well as aid the office’s capabilities to review agency initiatives, said Graham.

The policy analyst positions are for Risk Assessor, Public Health Scientist, Health Economist/Decision Scientist, and Engineer.

When federal agencies submit regulatory proposals to OMB-OIRA, the accompanying regulatory analyses often are based on complex technical reports, for example human health risk assessments based on toxicology and public health science. Even cost-benefit analyses prepared by agencies are based on insights from diverse fields of science and engineering.

Graham said that "the new OMB-OIRA staffing plan, coupled with collaboration with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, should enhance the technical quality of OIRA’s work and thereby stimulate a stronger role for science at regulatory agencies."

Positions would be appropriate for master’s or doctoral students or post-doctoral professionals. Position levels go up to a grade of GS-15 with a salary as high as $100,000.

More information is available at HSPH’s Career Services Office in Kresge G-29 or at www.whitehouse.gov/omb/inforeg/pdintro.html.

Biostatistics Professor Receives Award

Louise Ryan, professor of biostatistics in the Department of Biostatistics, has received the 2001 Minority Access Mentor Role Model Award from Minority Access, Inc., a non-profit educational organization that supports the recruitment and retention of minorities on campuses and at work sites. The award was given at the National Role Models Conference in Washington, DC in November. John Ruffin, director of the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities, was a keynote speaker.

Ryan works on the development and application of statistical methods for community-based, environmental health research. She was honored by Minority Access, Inc. for her efforts to recruit and mentor minority students in public health.

Doctoral Fellowships Available

The Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations invites applications from graduate students at Harvard University for the 2002-2003 Doctoral Fellowships in Nonprofit Sector Studies. The Center will award up to five, two-year residential fellowships to doctoral/advanced degree candidates who are enrolled in any program at Harvard University and are engaged in major research or writing a dissertation on a nonprofit sector topic. Applications and all supporting documents are due by February 1, 2002. The names of the recipients of Fellowships will be announced in early April. Brochure and application materials may be downloaded at www.ksg.harvard.edu/hauser/education/docfellows.htm. For more information, contact Sarah Alvord, Program Manager, Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations, 79 JFK Street, Cambridge, MA, 02138, 617-495-7576, sarah_alvord@harvard.edu.