
The University of Minnesota's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) has announced the steering committee members for its Vaccine Integrity Project, which was introduced last week.
The members include Jeff Duchin, MD, emeritus professor in medicine at the University of Washington; Mark Feinberg, MD, PhD, president and CEO of the nonprofit research organization IAVI; Asa Hutchinson, former Arkansas governor; Michael Osterholm, PhD, MPH, CIDRAP director; Fred Upton, former member of the US House of Representatives for southwest Michigan; and Anne Zink, MD, an emergency medicine physician in Alaska.
They join the previously announced cochairs, Peggy Hamburg, MD, former commissioner of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and current co-president of the InterAcademy Partnership; and Harvey Fineberg, MD, PhD, past president of the National Academy of Medicine and current president of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.
Ensuring safe vaccines
The Vaccine Integrity Project is dedicated to safeguarding US vaccine use so that it remains grounded in the best available science, free from external influence, and focused on optimizing the protection of patients, families, and communities against vaccine-preventable diseases.
Over the coming months, facilitated sessions will be held to gather feedback and understand what is needed to ensure the integrity of the vaccine enterprise, such as vaccine evaluations and evidence-based clinical guidelines. The project is supported by an unrestricted gift from Alumbra, a foundation established by philanthropist Christy Walton.