Via Webex meeting: Join Webex meeting Or via phone: 1-210-795-0506; 1-877-465-7975; Global call-in numbers Access code: 901 276 235

Total Attendance: 170 attendees; 24 excused absences

Chief Scientist Officer and 2020–2021 SciPAC Executive Board Members

Rank Name Role

CAPT Eckert, John Chief Scientist Officer Excused

CAPT Rodgers, Loren Ex-Officio Chairperson Excused

CDR Dee, Deborah Vice Chair; Rules & Membership Chair Present

CDR Rossiter, Lana Executive Liaison Present

LCDR Jamoom, Eric Executive Secretary Present

LCDR Wilken, Jason Chair Present

Voting Members

Rank Name Role

CDR Barbour, Kamil Science Subcommittee Chair Present

CDR Bjork, Adam Policy Subcommittee Chair Excused

CDR Demissie, Zewditu Awards Subcommittee Chair Excused

CDR Goodrich-Doctor,

Adrienne

Website Subcommittee Chair Present

CDR Kenney, James Awards Subcommittee Co-Chair Present

CDR Pesce, John Deployment Preparedness Subcommittee Chair Present

CDR Shumate, Alice Category Day Chair Present

LCDR Blessington, Tyann Career Development Subcommittee Chair Present

LCDR Bowen, Virginia Mentoring Subcommittee Chair Present

LCDR Chen, Debra Recruitment and Retention Subcommittee Chair; Present

LCDR Hassan, Iram Visibility Subcommittee Chair Excused

LCDR Leshin, Jonathan Policy Subcommittee Co-Chair Present

LCDR Link-Gelles, Ruth Website Subcommittee Co-Chair Excused

LCDR Muniz-Ortiz, Jorge Deployment Preparedness Subcommittee Co-

Chair

Present

LCDR Scott, Colleen Visibility Subcommittee Co-Chair Excused

LCDR Zhang, Xinzhi Career Development Subcommittee Co-Chair Present

Commissioned Corps of the US Public Health Service

Scientist Professional Advisory Committee

Meeting Minutes; March 2, 2021

Non-voting Liaisons

Rank Name Role

CDR Odom, Erika PACE Liaison Excused

LCDR Hudson, Gwendolyn JOAG Liaison Present

LCDR Iturriaga, Luis SOAGDAG Liaison Present

LCDR Kembi, Folasade COA Liaison Present

LCDR Rahman, Nazia PsyPAG co-Liaison Present

LCDR Zwald, Marissa CCWIAB Liaison Excused

LT Sears, Patrick PsyPAG co-Liaison Present

Participation by non-voting Scientist Officers: RADM Theresa Lawrence; CAPT Nelson Adekoya;

CAPT Drue Barrett; CAPT Marco Bennett; CAPT Jennifer Bodart; CAPT Joseph Despins; CAPT Anne

Dobmeyer; CAPT Jeffrey Goodie; CAPT Arlin Hatch; CAPT Tracy Macgill; CAPT William Murphy; CAPT

Timothy Nelle; CAPT Ryan Novak; CAPT Margaret Riggs; CAPT Sukhminder Sandhu; CAPT Kenneth

Sekulic; CAPT Andrea Sharma; CAPT Michael Smith; CAPT Jacqueline Tate; CAPT Jennifer Thomas; CAPT

Robin Toblin; CAPT Fuyuen Yip; CDR Robert Belde; CDR Qiao Bobo; CDR Sharyn Brown; CDR Renee

Calanan; CDR Dianna Carroll; CDR Dan-My Chu; CDR Chekesha Clingman; CDR Minglei Cui; CDR Judy

Facey; CDR Anne France; CDR Cara Halldin; CDR Brian Harcourt; CDR Keisher Highsmith; CDR David

Huang; CDR Emily Jentes; CDR Jean Ko; CDR Terrence Lo; CDR Matthew Lozier; CDR Charlene Maddox;

CDR Andrea Mccollum; CDR Leigh Ann Miller; CDR Mark Miller; CDR Lara Misegades; CDR Matthew

Newland; CDR Carrie Nielsen; CDR Ruiqing Pamboukian; CDR Cesar Perez; CDR Cria Perrine; CDR

Kenneth Phillips; CDR Luz Rivera; CDR Michelle Rodriguez; CDR Erin Sauber-Schatz; CDR Mark

Scheckelhoff; CDR Emily Streeter; CDR Nadra Tyus; CDR Jeremy Wally; CDR Maroya Walters; CDR Angela

Williams; CDR Fei Xu; CDR Ellen Yard; CDR Lauren Zapata; LCDR Francis Annor; LCDR Tajah Blackburn;

LCDR Israel Cross; LCDR Sharoda Dasgupta; LCDR Samantha Dimisa; LCDR Elizabeth Edwards; LCDR

Charlotte Francia; LCDR Amy Freeland; LCDR Michael Gallaway; LCDR Eboni Galloway; LCDR Rory

Geyer; LCDR Yoran Grant-Greene; LCDR Andrew Hickey; LCDR Patrick High; LCDR Natasha Hollis;

LCDR Brooke Hoots; LCDR Jorielle Houston; LCDR Gwendolyn Hudson; LCDR Elizabeth Irvin-Barnwell;

LCDR Luis Iturriaga; LCDR Asha Ivey-Stephenson; LCDR Lisa Jarvis-Durham; LCDR Folasade Kembi;

LCDR Rebecca Levine; LCDR Kimberly Litton-Belcher; LCDR Neali Lucas; LCDR Shiny Mathew; LCDR

Jamie Mells; LCDR George Mitzner; LCDR Jonetta Mpofu; LCDR Ashleigh Murriel; LCDR Julie O'Donnell;

LCDR Oliver Ou; LCDR Mary Puckett; LCDR Nazia Rahman; LCDR Hilda Razzaghi; LCDR Leslie Rivera-

Rosado; LCDR Pilgrim Spikes; LCDR Matthew Steele; LCDR Scott Steffen; LCDR Angela Thompson-Paul;

LCDR Nancy Tian; LCDR Jessica Tomov; LCDR Emily Ussery; LCDR Tyson Volkmann; LCDR Teresa

Wang; LCDR Shondelle Wilson-Frederick; LCDR Marcienne Wright; LCDR Julia Zucco; LT Anna Chard; LT

Angela Coulliette-Salmond; LT Ariella Dale; LT Nicholas Deputy; LT Brett Dodd; LT Jessica Dunn; LT

Lacreisha Ejike-King; LT Leora Feldstein; LT Brett Forshey; LT Brandi Freeman; LT Robert Gahl; LT Bradley

Goodwin; LT Sean Griffing; LT Jayleen Gunn; LT Kathleen Hartnett; LT Marisa Hast; LT Carolyn Herzig; LT

Michelle Hughes; LT Jesica Jacobs; LT Michelle Johnson; LT Jueichuan Kang; LT Hana Kim; LT Taneshia

Knight; LT Ian Kracalik; LT Ana Lauer; LT Michelle Lin; LT Sean Marcsisin; LT Oren Mayer; LT Olivia

Mcgovern; LT Megan Peck; LT Tia Rogers; LT Adelaida Rosario; LT Erica Rose; LT Marsha Samson; LT

Patrick Sears; LT Kelly Shaw; LT Dantrell Simmons; LT Carrie Whitworth; LT Nana Wilson; LT Lindsay

Womack; LT Lauren Woodard; LT Rebecca Woodruff; and LT Shannon York.

Excused Absences of Non-voting Scientist Officers: CAPT Dominic Frasca; CDR Joanna Gaines; CDR

Theodore Garnett; CDR Alison Laufer Halpin; CDR Sanny Northbrook; CDR Erika Odom; CDR Sharon

Saydah; CDR Sara Vagi; LCDR William Davis; LCDR Mary Demby; LCDR Kelsy Hoffman; LCDR Iman

Martin; LCDR Marissa Zwald; LT Pushpa Jayasekara; LT Gina Masessa; LT Beth Rubenstein; and LT Amy

Schuh.

o Call to Order and Welcome: LCDR Jason Wilken

o CPO Report: CAPT John Eckert

• Reminder that COVID-19 Vaccination Training must be completed by 3/14/2021.

• Scientists have been designated as “non-vaccinators” – even if qualified to provide

vaccinations, it is unlikely that a Scientist officer will be deployed to do so

• All officers must complete the training, whether rostered to deploy or not

• Commissioned Corps Learning Management System (CCLMS) training: COVID-19

Vaccines Knowledge Course (1 module)

• CDC TRAIN site – Vaccine Storage and Handling (3 modules)

• Immunization: You Call the Shots-Module Ten-Storage and Handling - 2021

(Web Based) WB4417

• Keys to Storing and Handling Your Vaccine Supply-2018 (Web on Demand) -

WD2886R

• Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases Pink Book Web

on Demand Series: Vaccine Storage and Handling; Vaccine Administration-2020

(Web on Demand) WD4344-072920

– Communicating with Patients about Vaccines (3 modules)

• How Nurses and Medical Assistants Can Foster a Culture of Immunization in the

Practice

• “#HowIRecommend” Vaccination Video Series

• Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases Pink Book Web

on Demand Series: Immunization Strategies-2020 (Web on Demand) - WD4344-

072220

• While preparing for deployment to assist with the mass vaccination programs, please lead

by example – If not medically disqualified, seek a COVID-19 vaccine for yourself.

There are now 3 available. If you are not able to obtain it at an MTF, then get it “on the

economy” from a state-run vaccination site, pharmacy or clinic like I did. We are in

category 1b, and, I believe that all states are now immunizing people in category 1b.

• Congratulations to our officers whose manuscripts have been published since this

pandemic began. Most recently:

• LT Erica Rose and LT Leora Feldstein – paper in JAMA

• CAPT Robin Toblin – paper in American Journal of Preventive Medicine

• Finally, our category continues to grow:

• 2 Scientist officers in the current OBC – 1 assigned to NIH and the other to FDA

• 9 applicants being interviewed this week – all are EIS

o Brief Remarks from RADM Lawrence: RADM Theresa Lawrence

• RADM Lawrence addressed the SciPAC on reflections from her career as SciPAC’s newest

flag officer.

o Chair Report: LCDR Jason Wilken

• The monthly SciPAC meeting is a great time to log into Secure Area and check your

readiness.

• The Executive Board, our subcommittee chairs, and our liaisons are here to serve you. Please

reach out to us if you need help or if you have ideas for supporting Scientist officers.

o Vice Chair Report: CDR Deborah Dee

• Nothing significant to report.

o Executive Secretary Report: LCDR Eric Jamoom

• Thank you for continuing to submit your written reports in advance of today’s call, which

is especially relevant due to ongoing deployments and COVID response efforts to ensure

the timely dissemination of information across SciPAC.

• We are contining to use interactive voting on WebEx to allow for timely feedback and

spotlight issues impacting the category. Officers are encouraged to sign into the WebEx

to participate.

o Executive Liaison Report: CDR Lana Rossiter

• If a subcommittee would like something reviewed by the Executive Board or needs any

other support, please let me know.

• The current SciPAC balance as of today is $1,741.36; fundraising efforts are still on hold

• Reminder to all Subcommittees, funds are available to support PAC activities. Contact

CDR Lana Rossiter for details.

• Please be aware that PAC activities that violate social distancing such as in-person

socials will not be approved or funded at the moment. Other activities that adhere to these

requirements may be funded but should be cleared prior to spending any funds.

o Subcommittee Reports

• Awards: CDR Zewditu Demissie; Co-Chairs: CDR James Kenney, LCDR Nancy Tian

• The winner of the 2021 Responder of the Year award has been determined and will

be confirmed soon. Thank you to all the nominators and the award reviewers.

• Call for nominations for the 2021 Junior Officer, Senior Officer, and Mentor of the

Year awards has closed. The review process for these awards will begin soon.

o Career Development: LCDR Tyann Blessington; Co-Chairs: LCDR Xinzhi Zhang, CDR

Minglei Cui

• Continuing Education (CE) Contact Hour Initiative Team: The Continuing

Education (CE) Contact Hour Initiative Team identifies CE opportunities to support

SciPAC officers in meeting the annual CE requirement. The new March CE list was

distributed on Wednesday, 2/24/2021. The team is requesting officers to share their

ideas for training opportunities. If you are aware of training opportunities that could

be included in the training list, please email the training opportunity information to

CDR Nadra Tyus and CDR Eric Zhou.

• Promotion Document Review Team: The Promotion Document Review Team

provides promotion document reviewing services to individual Scientist officers who

are up for promotion. The team issued letters of appreciation to all officers serving as

reviewers during the 2021 cycle. If you participated as a primary or secondary

reviewer and have not received a letter of appreciation or have other questions please

contact CDR Michelle Rodriguez for more information.

• Promotion Guidance Team: The Promotion Guidance Team provides Scientist

officers with guidance in preparing in advance of being eligible for promotion and in

preparing promotion materials. The team is developing promotion planning and

preparation tips. These will include tips for both junior and senior officers and

officers who will be up for promotion as well as those who will not. The team is

soliciting ideas; if you have ideas for inclusion please email CDR Renee Calanan.

• Jobs List Team: The Job List Team identifies, compiles, highlights, and distributes

job/position announcements to aid current officers in securing new billets. The job list

highlights the range of billet opportunities and should help those currently seeking a

new billet as well as those interested in career progression and planning. For more

information please email LTs Sean Marcsisin and Jessica Dunn. Requests for

inclusion of job openings in future weekly Jobs List should be emailed directly to LT

Sean Marcsisin.

• Promotion Panel Initiative Team: The Promotion Panel Initiative Team generates

data-driven insight into factors that may relate to success or non-success of

promotion-eligible Scientist officers. The Promotion Panel Initiative team recently

conducted a survey among Scientist officers who were promoted in 2019 and 2020 to

help identify factors that may have contributed to successful promotion. A draft of

this analysis is currently under review. Previous 2017 and 2018 analyses can be found

on the SciPAC Career Development webpage. For more information please email

LCDRs Emily Ussery & Rory Geyer, and LT Sean Marcsisin.

• Scientist Officer Handbook Team: The Scientist Officer Handbook provides

Scientist officers with guidance on various topics related to career development. The

team is working with the SC Website Liaison and the Website Subcommittee to post

the newly approved chapters. Individual chapters can be accessed from the Scientist

Officer Handbook webpage under Resources and Links. For more information please

email CAPT Sukhminder Sandhu and CDR Tamara Henderson.

• Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) Team: The SOP Team maintains a current

version of the Career Development SC SOP. The current SOP is available on the

SciPAC Career Development webpage. Update suggestions, in preparation for the

next submission, can be submitted to CDR Jacqueline Sram and LT Amy Schuh.

• Training Team: The Training Team provides professional training seminars and

presentations related to the career development of Scientist officers. If you have ideas

about future training events, please contact CDR Tamara Henderson and LT Jessica

Dunn.

• Administration & Communication Team: The Administration & Communication

Team provides administrative and communication support to the SC. If you have

website questions please contact, CDR Theodore Garnett, the SC Website Liaison.

For other administrative and communication questions, please contact LT Taneshia

Knight, the SC Secretary, as well as SC Chair & Co-chairs.

o Category Day: CDR Alice Shumate; Co-Chair: LCDR Rebecca Levine

• The Category Day Subcommittee has begun planning for a 2021 virtual Category

Day. Our goal is to include as many of the normal Category Day activities as

possible, but in a virtual format.

• Scientist Virtual Category Day will likely not be a full day, but be designed so that

officers in Eastern, Central, Mountain, and Pacific time zones will be able to attend

during their normal work hours. We wish it were easier to make it accessible to all

OCONUS officers as well, but hope you will be able to join us for some or all of it.

• The call for abstracts will be coming out soon; please watch for it and consider

submitting one!

o Deployment Preparedness: CDR John Pesce; Co-Chair: LCDR Jorge Muñiz Ortiz, LT

Jason Caballero, LT Adelaida Rosario

• Point of contact for officers who want to get involved: CDR John Pesce and :

LCDR Jorge Muñiz Ortiz.

• Most recent meeting: 1/29/2021; 1200 ET

• Next meeting: TBD

• Our team leads and co-leads are operational and we have completed our second

Subcomitte meeting. Timelines are being met for deliverables for this operational

year.

• Readiness Statistics for the Scientist Category as of January:

• Total number of Scientist Officers: N=352

• Total number who are basic ready: 341

• Total number who are exempt because of new CAD or Medical waiver: 8.

• Total numer who are not qualified: 3

• Two Deployment Narratives are currently under review.

• Deployment Narrative Submission form to be included on webpage.

• There have been updates to the RedDOG self service homepage since our last

meeting, specifically since 2/3/2021. All officers are encouraged to take a look at

these changes immediately:

• RDB updates: Appendix A or for latest updates log into the Officer Secure Area

and click on RedDOG – Self Service (Column to the left of the Officer Secure

Area dashboard) (Link: https://dcp.psc.gov/RedDOG/default.aspx)

• The blue and red font is the new information regarding Readiness.

• Anyone with a specific question can contact RDB or direct it to us and we will

consult with RDB for clarity on behalf of the officer.

o Mentoring: LCDR Ginny Bowen; Co-Chairs: LCDR Shayne Gallaway, LCDR Tyson

Volkmann

• Point of contact for officers who want to get involved: LCDR Ginny Bowen

• Most recent meeting: 2/22/2021; 1100 ET

• Next meeting: 3/22/2021; 1100 ET. Note: We have moved from bimonthly meetings

to monthly meetings.

• Mentor Recruitment Team:

• Sent emails to O-6 Scientist Officers to gauge their interest in becoming a

SciPAC mentor. Received positive responses from 9 O-6 Officers as of

2/22/2021.

• Amending Peer Support Network (PSN) SOP to include updated definition of

PSN Mentor and other operational changes.

• PSN is in need of peer mentors for new Call to Active Duty (CAD) Scientists.

PSN mentors are ideally O-3 Scientists with at least 2 years time-in-service.

Email LCDR Matt Steele and LCDR Folasade Kembi to learn more & volunteer.

• Mentor Matching Team

• 98 active mentor-mentee agreements on file as of 12/31/2020 quarterly report

• Since the “Call for Senior O-4 Mentors” announcement (1/15/2021), we have

received 25 mentor applications from Senior O-4 officers

• We are in continuous need of mentors at all senior ranks. Interested Scientists can

complete the mentoring application and email it to LCDR Patrick High:

https://dcp.psc.gov/OSG/scientist/documents/mentoring-application_.pdf

• Mentor Capacity-Building Team

• Submitted 2020 Mentor Outreach publications to the SciPAC Website

Subcommittee for publishing on the website.

• Drafted a comprehensive email reminding SciPAC officers of the various

resources available to mentors and mentees.

o Policy: CDR Adam Bjork; Co-Chair: LCDR Jonathan Leshin, LCDR Matthew Steele

Secretary: LCDR Elizbeth Irvin-Barnwell

• Point of contact for officers who want to get involved: LCDR Elizabeth Irvin-

Barnwell

• Most Recent Meeting: 1/21/2021, 1200 ET

• CCHQ Has announced that Commissioned Officers are now automatically enrolled in

TSA’s PreCheck program. Officers must remain compliant with the following

requirements:

• At a minimum, possess a Tier 3 clearance with childcare check or an appropriate

higher level of clearance for your role within your agency;

• Consistently maintain a Tier 3 or higher security clearance level and;

• Have continual service as a Uniformed Service Member.

• CCHQ has clarified the required documents and procedures in order to apply for

Long Term Training (LTT). Applications are due by 3/15/2021. Applications must

be made using Form PHS-1122-1 and the application packet must include the

following documents:

• Training Purposes and Objectives

• Basic training contract, Form PHS-1122 Course Curriculum

• Form PHS-6374, Intramural Training Agreement, or Form PHS-6373,

Extramural Training Agreement

• Form PHS-7062, Extramural Training Agreement (Scholarships, Grants,

Fellowships)

• Form PHS-1881, Order Pursuant To Basic Training Contract (as appropriate)

• Form DD-2807-1, Report of Medical History” and Disclosure Statement

• Form PHS-1662, Request for Personnel Action

• Letter of Acceptance from the training institution

• Letter of support from Agency/OPDIV/STAFF Division Director

• Memorandum from Agency HR Director requesting a basic training contract

number (BTCN).

• Memorandum of Understanding or Agreement (MOU/MOA) between the

Program/Agency and the training site.

• Approval from Agency ethics.

• CCHQ has updated the following policies and directives regarding Health Professions

Special Pays:

• Commissioned Corps Directive (CCD) 151.05, “Health Professions Special Pays

(HPSP),”

• Commissioned Corps Instruction (CCI) 633.01, “Special Pays,”

• Personnel Operations Memorandum (POM) 821.70, “HPSP Submission,

Effective Dates, and Rates.”

• Revised FAQ at:

https://dcp.psc.gov/ccmis/HPSP/HPSP_FAQ_SpecialPayUpdates.aspx

o Recruitment and Retention: LCDR Debra Chen; Co-Chairs: LCDR Alaine Knipes,

LCDR Iman Martin

• Resources (LCDR Julia Zucco)

• No report

• Interested Applicant (LCDR Kelsey Hoffman and CDR Angela Williams)

• All categories and all agencies are open for recruitment. Please direct interested

individuals to usphs.gov.

• OBC Engagement (CDR Cesar Perez)

• All OBCs will be virtual through the end of the year.

• A point of contact (CDR Perez) has been designated so that trainees can engage in

further discussions.

• New CAD Seminars (LT Erica Rose and LT Patrick Sears)

• The New CAD Seminar Team hosted a seminar on Awards in February – thank

you to LT Brian Reiner and CDR Erika Odom for leading this seminar.

• To receive an invite for the next CAD Seminar or if you are interested in

presenting a serminar, please contact LT Erica Rose or LT Patrick Sears.

• CDC New Officer Monthly Meeting (LT Angela Coulliette-Salmond, LT Ana

Lauer, LT Amy Schuh, and LT Carrie Whitworth)

• The CDC New CAD Lunch team met on 2/19/2021 via Microsoft Teams, where it

was an open forum with eight Science officers in attendance.

• Two of the officers were joining for their first time, one officer was

stationed in Arizona.

• Our next meeting will be 3/19/21 with CDR Dee as our special guest.

• We will be sending out a “Save the Date” to the group for Dr. Anne Schuchat,

who has agreed to be the special guest on 5/21/2021 at 12:30 pm. We would like

to open this up to all new officers (within the first 3 year probationary period),

regardless of category and agency. We will be asking for questions ahead of time

to make the best use of the 30 minutes Dr. Shuchat is providing us.

• To receive an invite for the coming calendar year or to be added to the

distribution list, please contact LT Angela Coulliette-Salmond.

• EIS/LLS (LCDR Jonetta Mpofu and LCDR Matthew Stuckey)

• No Report

• Separation Survey (CDR Minglei Cui).

• No report.

o Rules and Membership: CDR Deb Dee; Co-Chair: CDR Dan-My Chu

• Point of contact for officers who want to get involved: CDR Dan-My Chu

• Most recent meeting: 2/12/2021 at 1300 ET.

• Next meeting: Standing meetings are at 1300 hours ET on the 2nd Friday of each

month.

• Continuing to process SOPs and to keep matrix current.

o Science: CDR Kamil Barbour; Co-Chairs: LCDR Israel Cross, LCDR Teresa Wang • Point of contact for officers who want to get involved: CDR Kamil Barbour

• State of the Scientists Team: As of 3/2/2021, the ‘State of the Scientists (SoS)’ survey

has been completed by 220 Scientist Officers surpassing the number of completed

surveys in 2019 (215).

• The four winners of the SoS raffle (for those who completed the survey) are CDR

Mark Miller, LCDR Scott Steffen, LT Ariella Dale, and LT Sean Griffing. They

will each receive a $25 Amazon gift card.

• The deadline for completing the SoS survey has been extended through

3/5/2021 to insure we get as high a response rate as possible, and approach the

number of responses we received in 2016 (>260). We are excited to begin the

analyses of the SoS survey data.

• A big thank you to LCDR Wilson-Frederick, LT Beauregard, and their team for

leading this effort.

• Research and Practice Team: On 2/23/2021, this team held an excellent and

informative seminar, entitled “The Impact of Regulatory Science on Public Health:

The Roles of Scientist Officers in the FDA” that featured 8-Scientist Officers from

the FDA. The seminar was well-attended (70 participants). A big thank you to CDR

Pamboukian and LTs Jayasekara, Samson, and Womack of the Research and Practice

for their vast efforts and leadership on this seminar. We hope you can join us for the

next seminar.

o Visibility: LCDR Iram Hassan; Co-Chairs: LCDR Colleen Scott, LCDR Angela

Thompson-Paul.

• Point of contact for officers who want to get involved: LCDR Iram Hassan; Co-

Chairs: LCDR Colleen Scott, LCDR Angela Thompson-Paul.

• Newsletter Team

• All previous editions are available on the SciPAC website newsletter page.

• The first draft of the Winter edition of the newsletter has been completed and is

being reviewed by the editorial team and SciPAC leadership.

• We will be calling for article submissions for the Spring edition of the newsletter

in the middle of March, so officers can begin working on articles they’d like to

submit!

• Please contact newsletter team lead LCDR Hilda Razzhaghi for any questions

regarding article submissions.

• Atlanta and DC Socials Teams: No updates.

• The Publications Team: No updates

• Twitter Team:

• In February 2021, @PHS_Scientist tweeted/retweeted a total of 9 times, and

generated 2,219 new impressions, 61 new engagements, 325 profile visits, and 31

new likes.

• We added 4 new followers in February 2021 – for all scientist officers, if you’re

not already, find us and follow us on Twitter at @PHS_Scientist

• Contact Twitter team lead LCDR Alaine Knipes with questions and Tweet Ideas!

• Facebook Team:

• In February 2021, there were 549 views, 12 posts, and 72 reactions on the

SciPAC Facebook page.

• Compared to the previous month, posts were up 133%, comments were up 67%,

and reactions were up 106%.

• There are currently 164 Facebook members, including 1 new member. If you

aren’t already a member you can request membership here.

• SciPAC Symposium Poster Team: No updates

• Conferences Team: No updates.

• Fist Bump Team:

• In February, The Fist Bump Team received one Fist Bump nomination.

• So far this year, 4 Fist Bumps have been published in the Scientist Newsletter and

on Facebook; viewed 397 times and generating 71 reactions on Facebook alone.

• We submitted our first Fist Bump for publication on the public-facing

@PHS_Scientist Twitter Feed, expanding the visibility of Scientist Officers

beyond our usual category-specific publications.

• The SciPAC Fist Bump Form is available on the website on the Visibility SC

page. Please use this form to submit Fist Bump nominations, send completed

forms to both LCDR Asha Ivey-Stephenson and LT Olivia McGovern.

• SciPAC History Team: We continue to await the SciPAC Website SC to begin work

to update the SciPAC History webpage. We anticipated an updated Nov 2020. I have

followed up with the SciPAC Website SC recently to determine when they may begin

this work, and they shared that most of their work has been halted by officer COVID

deployments. At this time, we do not have a good idea when this work may start or

end.

o Website: CDR Adrienne Goodrich-Doctor; Co-Chair: LCDR Ruth Link-Gelles, LCDR

Elizabeth Edwards; Secretary: LCDR Elizabeth Irvin-Barnwell

• Point of contact for officers who want to get involved: CDR Adrienne Goodrich-

Doctor

• Next SC Meeting: TBD (April)

• The Website Subcommittee recently added the following:

• Updates to the Scientist Officers Handbook at

https://dcp.psc.gov/OSG/scientist/handbook.aspx – Award write-up Training

– Mobility

– COA Involvement

• Updated the Mentoring SC page and posted new content for Mentors

(https://dcp.psc.gov/OSG/scientist/mentoring-SC.aspx): – COVID-19 Mentor Outreach - https://dcp.psc.gov/OSG/scientist/documents/COVID-

19-Mentor-Outreach-April-2020.pdf

– SciPAC Career Facts Sheet - https://dcp.psc.gov/OSG/scientist/documents/SciPAC-

Career-Facts-Sheet-Final.pdf

• Current Activities

• Updating the Website – As of March 2, 2021, the SC received 27 update requests;

25 requests are complete and 2 are pending. – Pending updates: (1) February Meeting Minutes and (2) History Webpage

– Continual delays due to deployments and OSG response to Sync requests.

– The annual website update process will begin in March – additional information is

forthcoming.

• Recruiting to fill a vacancy one of the SC Editor Teams – interested in joining?

Contact the Website SC Chair at Adrienne.Goodrich-Doctor@fda.hhs.gov.

o Liaison Reports

• COA: LCDR Folasade Kembi

• All officers are invited to join COA March gathering on “Let’s Talk Leadership”

featuring RADM (Ret.) Boris Lushniak and RADM Scott Giberson on 3/25/2021 at 7

pm ET. Advance registration is required- registration link.

• COA Board and COF Board of trustees are now accepting applications for Board

members. See Jan/Feb issue of Frontline for more information

• Deadline for Mishoe Scholarship for High School Seniors and the following COA

awards- Health Leader of the Year, Local Branch of the Year, Local Branch Leader

of the Year, Local Branch Member of the Year, Civilian Outstanding Support of the

USPHS, and Retiree of the Year has been extended to 3/12/2021.

• PSYPAG: LCDR Nazia Rahman; LT Patrick Sears

• Point of contact for officers who want to get involved: LCDR Nazia Rahman; LT

Patrick Sears

• Next Meeting : 4/13/2021, Time : 1400-1500 EST

• The PsyPAG CCMIS website was recently updated to reflect the current leadership

and committee chairs. (link)

• The 2021 American Psychological Association’s Annual Convention will be held in

San Diego from 08/12/2021 through 08/15/2021.

• JOAG: LCDR Gwendolyn Hudson

• Point of contact for officers who want to get involved: LCDR Gwendolyn Hudson

• Most recent meeting: 2/12/2021.

• Next meeting: 4/9/2021, Time: 1300 - 1400 EST.

– Zoom: Link; Zoom Meeting ID 160 713 0933. For Audio: (646) 828-7666, Passcode:

42721058

• JOAG Voting Member Call for Nominations and Information Session

– One Scientist Officer position available. The selected officer will also serve as the

SciPAC JOAG Liaison for a term of two years. There are 7 additional At-Large VM

positions available for 1 or 2 year terms. Scientist officers may also serve in these

positions.

– Deadline for Nominations: 3/23/2021

– For general questions about Voting Membership or to submit nominations for Voting

Membership, contact Voting Membership Co- Chairs, LCDR Mavis Darkwah and LT

David Burnett.

– Informational Event Date and Time: 3/5/2021 at 1300 ET.

Zoom: Link

Zoom Meeting ID: 160 215 9898. Passcode: rNNiP$9$

For Audio: 1-646-828-7666,,1602159898#,,,,,,0#,,49210179# US (New York)

• JOAG Professional Development Book Club

• Book: Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don’t by Simon Sinek

• Article: How Humility Be Your Secret Weapon As A Boss: Link

• Ted Talk: Why Leader’s Make You Feel Safe-Simon Sinek: Link

• Event Date & Time: Thursday, 3/25/2021 from 1200-1300EST

WebEx Meeting ID: 199 658 2706; Meeting password: SXdPMqED738

Join by phone: +1-210-795-0506 US Toll or +1-877-465-7975 US Toll Free

Join by computer: Link

• Visit the JOAG Website for more information.

• SOAGDAG: LCDR Luis Iturriaga

• Point of contact for officers who want to get involved: LCDR Luis Iturriaga

• Most recent meeting: 2/22/2020 @ 1300 HRS EST

• Next meeting: 3/22/2020 @ 1300 HRS EST

• Point of contact for officers who want to get involved: Luis.Iturriaga.mil@mail.mil

• Communications committee to have the first Officer Spotlight newsletter featuring

COVID-19 officer deployment stories with distribution of first issue targeted in

March.

• Initial Education &Training presentation will be held 3/9/2021 @ 1300 EST. The

presentation will feature Dr. Jae Sevelius, Associate Professor of Medicine at

University of California San Francisco, who will be presenting on the role of gender

affirmation in addressing health disparities among transgender and gender diverse

people. Presentation will be held on WebEx (link). Call in information: 199-043-0531

Meeting Number: 8bDYhPZ73NM

• Prevalence of tobacco use among the LGBT community PowerPoint presentation was

drafted by LCDR High and sent to the SOAGDAG Policy Workgroup for review.

• Reviewing the proposed Commissioned Corps Women’s Issues Advisory Board

Parental Leave Policy to ensure LGBTQ officers are covered by the proposed policy.

The SOAGDAG Policy subcommittee will also be drafting White Papers regarding

APFT and Uniform Wear with recommendation to be based on gender identity.

• Commissioned Corps Women's Issues Advisory Board (CCWIAB): LCDR Marissa Zwald

• Point of contact for officers who want to get involved: LCDR Marissa Zwald and

CDR Eunice Chung-Davies (CCWIAB Co-Chair)

• Last CCWIAB meeting: 2/3/2021

• Next CCWIAB meeting: 4/7/2021

• CCWIAB’s committees are continuing to work on several ongoing initiatives and

identify new priority areas to support female officers. – This includes the Pregnancy Committee’s efforts to develop and disseminate resources on

pregnancy loss, breastfeeding, and maternal health.

– The Anti-Harassment Committee is also working to identify improved ways to collect

information and support officers who may have experienced harassment while at their

duty station or deployed.

– More information on these initiatives and resource guides will be shared during these

calls and via the CCWIAB’s website.

• As a reminder, you do not have to be a board member to participate in committee

activities therefore, if you are interested in joining a CCWIAB committee or if you

have any questions about CCWIAB, please contact LCDR Zwald, or visit CCWIAB’s

website. CCWIAB committees include: – Pregnancy Committee

– Anti-Harassment and Discrimination Committee

– Health and Wellness Committee

– Website Committee

– Outreach and Membership Committee

• PACE: CDR Erika Odom

• Point of contact for officers who want to get involved: CDR Erika Odom

• Most recent meeting: 2/11/2021

• Next meeting: 4/8/2021 at 1400 EST – +1-210-795-0506 or +1-877-465-7975 Participant access code: 199 285 8461

– Webex Meeting Password: umRepQQj868

• The FDA Captains’ Advisory Council (CAC) has organized an Opioid Overdose

Response and Naloxone Training. This training is a 90-minute session which

includes didactic skills training followed by an online skills demonstration for

participants focused on the recognition and response to respiratory arrest related to

an opioid crisis, and the intervention using naloxone.

– When: Tuesday, March 16, 2021, 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM EST

– Where: Adobe Connect (online only)

– Registration: Register by March 15, 2021, using the links below.

– The Adobe Webcast LMS enrollment URL click

– If you don’t have access to the LMS registration system to enroll for the course, please

register using Survey Monkey

– Day of Training: Please sign in using your RANK (if applicable), full FIRST and LAST

name to receive attendance credit. No exceptions will be made. Adobe connect for online

presentation click https://collaboration.fda.gov/overdoseresponse Continuing Education

Credits will be offered for this online session.

– Questions? Contact CAPT Nina Mezu-Nwaba, Lead Coordinator for FDA Opioid

Training, CDR Andrew Potter, or CDR Susan Polifko.

• The PACE Website is live at https://dcp.psc.gov/OSG/pace/. Check it out and make

recommendations!

o 2021 Category Day Presentations:

• Transitioning from Treating Perpetrators to Victims During a Mental Health Deployment,

LCDR Debra Chen, Bureau of Prisons

• Improving Pandemic Preparedness Through Better, Faster Influenza Vaccines, CDR

Matthew Newland, Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA)

• National Mental Health Essay Challenge: Speaking Up about Mental Health! This is My

Story, LCDR Nancy Tian, Food and Drug Administration

o Closing Remarks: LCDR Jason Wilken

NOTE: Next meeting Tuesday, 4/6/2021 @ 1200–1300 EDT

Appendix A: Readiness and Deployment Branch (RDB) Updates

These are the specific updates from the RedDOG self service homepage for visability:

FEBRUARY 3, 2021 (***Newest Updates are in blue font***)

Officers:

Dashboard = shows future or projected readiness beginning with next month.

RDB Self-Service = shows current and historic readiness (under "readiness information" section)

Readiness Extensions - updates announced during the recent December Town Hall session, with additional guidance and clarification:

2020 Periodic Health Update (PHU) Requirements:

▪ Your readiness status and eligibility for promotion are not dependent on a 2020 PHU submission which was due after March 1, 2020.

2021 PHU Requirements:

▪ PHU requirements resume beginning January 2021. ▪ Officers with a January birth month will have until March 31, 2021 to submit their 2021

PHU. ▪ If officers have made a reasonable effort to get in-person appointments without success,

MAB will accept a PHU with the following components:

-- A "virtual" physical examination -- A completed behavioral health survey, and -- A report of a dental examination Updated PHU instructions with checklist and forms are available on the CCMIS website. Officer Dashboard recalculations for 2021 PHU due dates have also been completed - please review to ensure accuracy. APFT & BLS: both are extended through MAR 1, 2021 readiness check. Both items will be required for submission (at the latest) in March and before the APR 1, 2021 readiness check. APFTs can be completed virtually - please review CCMIS website, under "readiness" tab for additional information and resources.

Officers are encouraged to continue making all efforts to complete and submit BLS and APFT readiness items despite continued extensions.

(Readiness extensions do not include immunizations, professional licensures, and weight standard requirements).

• Licenses: Officers with professional licensures expiring during JAN 2021 need to upload any state specific extensions or renewal verifications via eDOCU and include their current license as one PDF document. The Licensing team will review and update officer files accordingly. To contact the Licensure team, see their email below or on CCMIS website, under "officer support" section.

• Retention Weight Standards: Officers will notice a newly added "Retention Weight Standards" status text box on the Dashboard, referring to compliance or non-compliance with policy as determined per last reported PHU, APFT and/or Verified Weight Report (form 7044-1) submission. For any officer who contacted RDB with an inquiry specific to this policy, we will provide responses as we work through the queue. Please do not send daily or multiple emails. In the meantime,

Any officer outside of weight standards compliance (BMI below 19.0 or greater than 27.5 kg/m2) must review POM 821.66, "Retention Weight Standards" and follow guidelines for timely submission of required documentation. If all required items were submitted by deadlines, current and future readiness status will not be impacted pending adherence with policy instructions.

Any officer outside of weight standards compliance who failed to submit required documents pertaining to the Retention Weight Standards policy will see their readiness status as "Not Qualified" for the duration of the month. The missing item needs to be submitted before the next month's readiness check to return to "Qualified" readiness status.

A current quarterly Verified Weight Report (form 7044-1) is due for completion and submission during Oct 1-7, 2020 for officers who remain "non-compliant" with Retention Weight Standards. These officers must continue with quarterly weight report submissions until their next APFT is submitted and their compliance is again re-assessed. Officers who are required to submit quarterly weight reports but fail to do so during the 1st week of October will be identified as "Not Qualified" for the NOV 1 and DEC 1 readiness check.

Quarterly Weight Reports (7044-1) are due both for completion AND submission in the first week of the quarter precisely. Officers needing to submit this must plan to complete and submit the JAN 2021 quarterly report no later than JAN 7th.

Late submissions identify the officer as "Not Qualified" for future readiness checks.

Any officer within weight standards, and "compliant" (BMI between 19.0 - 27.5 kg/m2), as identified per last submitted APFT record, either in 2019 or with a recently renewed 2020 record, have no further requirements until the next APFT or PHU is submitted. Ensure all data fields are completed prior to saving the record, to include: height, weight, BMI, and if needed, Percent Body Fat results.

Officers that last completed an APFT in 2019 but currently have an APFT extension waiver due to COVID-19, are covered for this readiness requirement until the waiver expires (see "waiver" section below). However, all required Retention Weight Standards items are still due for anyone outside of weight compliance from last year's APFT record submission (i.e. quarterly weight reports, an updated Weight Management Plan).

Waivers: Instructions for requesting and submitting this is included on the CCMIS website, under "Medical Affairs" section. Officers on maternity-related waivers, please note not

all readiness items are waived or extended automatically (i.e. PHU, Td immunization) and officers need to contact MAB directly to address concerns or request additional readiness extensions.

Waivers do not appear on the Dashboard but details of any placed waivers can be found within the Self-Service portal, under "waivers" section. Please review as readiness items are due in the month the waiver expires.

When a waiver extension is in place for the APFT specifically, officers will be unable to upload that item until the waiver expires. Begin submitting APFTs on 09/03/20.

Deployment Credit: RDB priorities are to continue supporting the current COVID-19 mission and deploy officers. Please be advised that deployment credits will not be finalized until 60-days after we have completed and demobilized all officers who have served on COVID-19 related missions. We will update this page once this process begins.

Deployment "On-Call" month schedule: during a Public Health Emergency (PHE), CCHQ does not follow the scheduled "on-call" roster. We are continuing to operate on an "all hands on deck" status until the PHE ends or additional communication is distributed from CCHQ. The courtesy "on-call" email alerts have been disabled until the PHE concludes.

Readiness - Report results are manually reviewed for accuracy - if items were submitted, records will be updated to reflect an officer's status. Take time to review your files within Self-Service portal several business days after submitting any readiness item. If there are any errors, please contact the respective team to initiate a review.

Per readiness and deployment policies, it is the duty and responsibility of each officer to ensure timely renewal and upload of readiness requirements to maintain compliance.

• Readiness reports are finalized the 1st day of each month. Requirements for readiness are NOT complete until successfully uploaded to either Self-Service or eDOC-U.

Items submitted after the month in which they are due will identify the officer as "Not Qualified". That status will remain for the duration of the month until it is addressed and the next month's readiness report is finalized.

2020 Influenza: Officers who did not successfully submit their required influenza documentation via eDOC-U by DEC 31,20 are correctly seeing a "Not Qualified" readiness status for 2021 JAN and FEB readiness check. As a reminder, annual influenza is available and can be obtained as early as September. Document submission must occur immediately to satisfy this requirement.

PHU: Please visit CCMIS > under "Medical Affairs" and "forms" sections to familiarize yourself with the requirements. Additionally, login to CCLMS to view a ~15-min video outlining new PHU requirements effective JAN 1, 2020.

PHU due dates are posted both on the officer dashboard and Self-Service - these are auto calculated based on an officer's birthday. PHU waiver extensions granted during COVID-19 will NOT show up on the dashboard, but can be found within Self-Service, under "waiver" section.

Deployment Role: Include a primary deployment role within Self Service area; additional roles may be added but at least 1 role must be saved to remain "Qualified" for monthly readiness checks.

The request to update demographic information is vital as this information is used to both communicate with and deploy officers efficiently. All officers must immediately take action to review and complete missing information for:

1. Work Phone, Primary Work Email

2. Personal Cell Phone, Personal Primary Email

3. Airport (departure airport for deployment and training purposes)

4. Language(s) spoken

5. Professional Specialties

Points of Contact: CCHQ is committed to improving our processes and providing quality services. If you have a system, IT or upload concern while in the OSA, please contact the Commissioned Corps Help Desk at: CCHelpDesk@hhs.gov.

If you have questions regarding information displayed in the OSA, please email the appropriate resource from the list below:

• Medical: MACCHQ@hhs.gov • Licensure: PHSLicensure@hhs.gov

• Non-medical, Weight Standards and Readiness related inquires, please send any requests with attachments/documents to PHSReadiness@hhs.gov

RDB has transitioned from former RedDOG email inboxes to new inboxes with CCHQ re-organization. Please use the following to reach the RDB team:

• PHSDeployment@hhs.gov (for awards, roster updates, deployment-related inquiries) • PHSReadiness@hhs.gov (non-medical readiness and Weight Standards inquiries) • PHSPreparedness@hhs.gov (plans & logistics; responder safety; evaluations/metrics)

During the ongoing COVID-19 mission response, the RDB team is focusing on mission priorities while maintaining everyday operations and responding to an extensive volume of emails. We appreciate your patience as we work through inquiries in the order in which they are received (responses may take up to 4 weeks or longer).