Mayer-Davis and Van Horn appointed by President to national public health advisory group

Dr. Elizabeth Mayer-Davis

Elizabeth Mayer-Davis, PhD, professor of nutrition in the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health and professor of medicine in the UNC School of Medicine, has been appointed by President Barack Obama to the Advisory Group on Prevention, Health Promotion and Integrative and Public Health. Sharon Van Horn, MD, MPH, an alumna of the School’s epidemiology department, also was appointed.

The President established the advisory group in June 2010, at the same time he established the National Prevention, Health Promotion, and Public Health Council within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The advisory group reports to the Surgeon General, who chairs the Council.

The group, which includes representatives from outside the federal government, represents health professionals and practitioners who have expertise in worksite health promotion, community services, preventive medicine, health coaching, public health education, geriatrics and rehabilitation medicine. Members will develop policy and program recommendations and advise the Council on lifestyle-based chronic disease prevention and management, integrative health care practices, and health promotion.

In appointing Mayer-Davis and others to several key administrative posts, the President said, “Our nation will be greatly served by the talent and expertise these individuals bring to their new roles. I am grateful they have agreed to serve in this Administration, and I look forward to working with them in the months and years ahead.”

Mayer-Davis’ research has focused on diabetes in youth, diabetes prevention and management, and diabetes among African-Americans and other minority and underserved populations. She is currently chairperson of the SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth Study, a multi-center study funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, and is principal investigator for the SEARCH Carolina Site. She also serves as investigator on several other diabetes studies.

She is an active member of the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and recently was named president of health care and education for the association.

“We are so pleased that Beth has been chosen by the White House to serve on this advisory group,” said June Stevens, PhD, AICR/ WCRF Distinguished Professor of nutrition and chair of UNC’s nutrition department. “We know that she will do a wonderful job in this important post.”

Alumna Van Horn is a pediatrician in Chapel Hill with a longstanding interest in the prevention of childhood and adolescent health and behavioral problems. In 2009, she completed a fellowship in integrative medicine at the University of Arizona, where she focused on prevention and integrative health issues.

UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health contact: Ramona DuBose, director of communications, (919) 966-7467 or ramona_dubose@unc.edu.