Owens appointed to national task force

Douglas Owens, director of the Center for Health Policy at FSI and the Center for Primary Care and Outcomes Research in the Department of Medicine and School of Medicine, has been appointed to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.

The task force is an independent, volunteer panel of 16 experts in prevention and evidence-based medicine that makes recommendations and develops clinical guidelines for preventive services. They focus on issues including screening for breast cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer, cervical cancer, diabetes, drug and alcohol misuse, and hepatitis C.

“These guidelines are used widely, and they address important issues for our veterans, and for the nation at large,” said Owens, the associate director of the Center for Health Care Evaluation at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System and the Henry J. Kaiser Jr. Professor at Stanford.

“I look forward to working with the Task Force.”