A professor in the UAB Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology has been appointed to the National Institutes of Health Council of Councils. Stephen Barnes, Ph.D., is among a select group of council members advising the NIH director on the policies and actions of the NIH's Division of Program Coordination, Planning and Strategic Initiatives. A renowned expert in the comingling of alternative medicine with laboratory techniques such as mass spectrometry, Barnes directs the bio-analytic core of the UAB O'Brien Acute Kidney Injury Research Center. He also directs the proteomics core of the UAB Skin Disease Research Center and co-directs two specialized proteomics laboratories at UAB.
The Council of Councils is made up of approximately 30 members nominated by NIH's Office of the Director program and by the Council of Public Representatives. In addition to advising the director, the council also acts as an external advisory panel to the institutes and centers during concept approval of new initiatives.