Three new members have been selected to join FDA's Veterinary Medicine Advisory Committee (VMAC). The new members are Steven A. Barker, Ph.D., Colonel Nancy K. Jaax, D.V.M., and Ling-Jung Koong, Ph.D. They replace retiring members Dr. Debra Aaron, Col. Anthony Johnson, and Dr. Gaylord Paulson.

Dr. Barker is a Full Professor in the Department of Physiology, Pharmacology and Toxicology of the Louisiana State University School of Veterinary Medicine. He also serves as the Director of The Analytical Systems Laboratory, a central analytical facility for the School, The Laboratory for Residue Studies, a drug metabolism research facility operated under GLP regulations and The Equine Medication Surveillance Laboratory, an analytical facility for the monitoring of drug use in equine athletes. Dr. Barker also serves as the State Chemist to the Louisiana State Racing Commission. Dr. Barker is an outstanding chemist whose research has included several studies involving the pharmacokinetics, metabolism and clearance of veterinary drugs in food animals. He has also been directly involved in the development of methodology for the subsequent detection and analysis of such compounds in milk and tissues, including extraction, analytical separation, immuno- and other receptor-based assay detection systems and drug quantification. Dr. Barker represents the chemistry specialty in VMAC.

Colonel Jaax received her D.V.M. degree from Kansas State University. With over 17 years of experience in veterinary pathology, Colonel Jaax is highly qualified to represent the pathology specialty for VMAC. She completed her residency training at the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID), and has been board certified with the American College of Veterinary Pathology since 1983. She has been the consultant for veterinary pathology to the U.S. Army Surgeon General since 1991. Her major research area is the pathogenesis of Ebola virus infection in animal models.

Dr. Koong received both his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from North Carolina State University. He currently serves as Associate Dean in the College of Agricultural Sciences at Oregon State University. Representing the biometrics specialty for VMAC, Dr. Koong is an outstanding mathematician with experience in application of statistical procedures for assessing research derived from animal production experiments. Past positions held by Dr. Koong include Associate Dean for Research and Associate Director, Agricultural Experiment Station at the University of Nevada; Research Leader of the Production Systems Research Unit at the Roman L. Hruska U.S. Meat Animal Research Center; and Associate Professor of the Departments of Animal Science and Range Science at the University of California-Davis.

Dr. Donald Lein remains the chairman of VMAC, and other members include Dr. Bernard Curran, Dr. George Cooper, Sue Hudson Duran, Dr. Diane Gerken, Dr. Stanley Kleven, Dr. Gary Koritz, and Dr. Alice Wolf. VMAC members normally serve four-year terms.