Two New Members Named to the World Trade Center Health Program's Scientific/Technical Advisory Committee

October 7, 2011

Two additional members have been named to the World Trade Center Health Program's Scientific/Technical Advisory Committee, the U.S Department of Health and Human Services announced today. The additional members add to representation of the WTC responder population and the certified eligible WTC survivor population. This expands the committee's membership to 17.

The two newest members to accept invitations to join the committee are:

• Stephen Cassidy, president, Uniformed Firefighters Association of Greater New York, New York City, and member, World Trade Center Responders Steering Committee, New York City. Cassidy is a representative of WTC responders.
• Kimberly Flynn, co-founder and director, 9/11 Environmental Action and community co-chair of the WTC Survivors Steering Committee (formerly World Trade Center Environmental Health Center Community Advisory Committee), New York City. Flynn is a representative of certified eligible WTC survivors.

"The addition of these two new representatives will expand the voice of the populations directly served by the World Trade Center Health Program," said John Howard, administrator of the WTC Health Program. "As the committee conducts its work, the survivors and responders representatives will provide valuable input and understanding."

The advisory committee will begin meeting this fall in New York City. The committee was formed to review scientific and medical evidence and to make recommendations to the WTC Health Program Administrator on eligibility criteria and on WTC-related health conditions.

The panel was established by the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010, signed by President Obama on Jan 2, 2011. Proceedings and recommendations of the committee will be made available to the public on the WTC Health Program website at http://www.cdc.gov/wtc/index.html.