The members of the Section’s Policy Committee have been working very hard this past spring and summer to identify policy targets for the upcoming APHA policy cycle. The committee is blessed with much talent, including Patricia Alt, policy wonk and professor at the University of Towson, Lene Levy-Storms, policy fellow and incoming Section chair, Mary Beth Morrissey, concentrating in health and public health law and policy, Karen Peters, representative to the Action Board, and Kathy Sykes, senior advisor to the Aging Initiative of the EPA. We anticipate that our Section will be making its mark in the policy arena of APHA!

Two policy areas that we will be focusing on immediately are palliative care and pain, and medication safety. We will be seeking interdisciplinary support from other sections and SPIGs as we move forward with these policy initiatives.

If you would like to weigh in on the development of proposed policy statements in either of these areas or have other feedback for the committee, please contact one of the committee members, listed below:

Mary Beth Morrissey, Committee Chair: mamorrissey@fordham.edu

Pat Alt: palt@towson.edu

Lene Levy-Storms: llstorms@ucla.edu

Karen Peters: kpeters@uic.edu

Kathy Sykes: sykes.kathy@epamail.epa.gov

We will provide you with the most up to date information on the committee’s participation in the APHA policy process at the Annual Meeting in D.C.