Members Appointed to Community Group for National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories at BU
Boston University Medical Campus
For Immediate Release – May 10, 2010
Contact: Ellen Berlin 617-638-6838, ellen.berlin@bmc.org
Boston, MA—Three members were appointed to fill the open positions on the six-member Community Liaison Committee (CLC) of the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL). One current member and two new members have been chosen by Karen Antman, MD, Provost of the Boston University Medical Campus and Kate Walsh, President and CEO of Boston Medical Center.
Formed to promote public participation and transparency during construction and operation of the NEIDL, the CLC facilitates collaboration, cooperation and information exchange between the NEIDL and the community. Members meet bi-monthly and serve on a volunteer basis for staggered 2 year terms.
Christopher Brayton has served on the CLC since 2006 and is being reappointed. A long-term South End resident and current member of the Old Dover Neighborhood Association, Mr. Brayton has strong interest, history and ties to the development of the area surrounding the medical campus and the NEIDL.
Robert Francis has vast experience in neighborhood and community development and is the founder and current Chair of the South End/Lower Roxbury Safety Task Force, a collaborative safety initiative that brings together community residents, alongside representatives from the police department, housing developments and community organizations, to address issues of safety and security.
James Keeney currently serves as Vice Chair at the Blackstone/Franklin Square Neighborhood Association and has more than twenty-five years of experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries.
The CLC assists the NEIDL leadership with effective communication and collaboration on programs and activities that involve the NEIDL and the community and advises the NEIDL Executive Committee on areas of community concern.
The NEIDL is part of a national network of secure facilities whose mission is to perform cutting-edge basic and clinical research on emerging infectious diseases; provide state-of-the-art training in these areas of research; and establish a research facility with the highest attention to community and laboratory safety and security.
For more information, visit www-test.bu.edu/neidl
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