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Steven Hinrichs, M.D. |
Dr. Hinrichs was selected to the National Governors Association (NGA) Health Information Communication and Data Exchange Taskforce, and to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Stakeholder Panel on Agent Detection Assays (SPADA).
“These appointments are certainly appreciated for their national importance,” said Dr. Hinrichs, Stokes-Shackleford Professor of Pathology. “They also fit into the larger objective of what we are trying to achieve in our research programs. It is essential for our future growth to be involved in policy related activities that spin out new research programs. It is clear that all of the major research institutions are represented in some way so they get advance notice of future funding priorities.”
In his role on the NGA task force, Dr. Hinrichs will focus on issues relating to governance and financial sustainability models for health information exchange, potential relationships between payers and state-level health information exchange efforts and integration of state health information exchange and public health programs.
The task force will meet three times in the first year to take testimony from a wide range of national experts. Subsequently, the task force will make recommendations to all state governors through the NGA.
The DHS committee was organized to address the urgent need for more advanced biodefense testing methods for biological agents.
Among other tasks, Dr. Hinrichs and the group will work on protocols for rapid detection of anthrax, bubonic plague and rabbit fever.
“This underscores the exceptional work being done by Dr. Hinrichs and his team. Biosecurity research projects are critical to our nation’s security,” said UNMC Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D., of Dr. Hinrichs’ selection to the committees. “They also provide a path for researchers to propel the state to the national forefront in biosecurity and biopreparedness,”
Dr. Hinrichs holds several titles at the medical center including senior associate dean for research in the College of Medicine and director of the Nebraska Public Health Laboratory, which is housed at UNMC.