Article preview from "The Gray Sheet" - January 14, 2013
The Network of Experts, which connects CDRH scientists with outside professional societies, has been made a permanent program within the device center.
Article preview from "The Gray Sheet" - January 14, 2013
The device center’s Network of Experts program has grown from a three-organization pilot in 2011 to a permanent program with 19 professional societies participating as of this month. Due to its success, FDA is considering expanding the program to other review centers in the future.
Although CDRH employs more than 800 scientists, engineers and clinicians, the center says it still needs to consult external experts on rapidly evolving device technologies. The Network of Experts program allows center staff to pose questions to experts in a variety of clinical fields. (See "CDRH Has New Plan For Tapping Outside Science Experts" — "The Gray Sheet," Oct. 10, 2011.)
“Our goal has always been to have a wide enough range of scientific and clinical professional societies in the network so that any critical scientific, engineering or clinical question that arises within the center could be addressed through the network,” explained Michelle McMurry-Heath, CDRH associate director for science, who manages the program.
The center plans to announce the program expansion as part of a "re-launch" in late February or early March, McMurry-Heath said in an interview.
“Not everyone internally is yet aware of the great increase of organizations that we’ve had,” she said. “We want, once we have the next critical mass, to really go forward and say, ‘Now the network has this range of expertise, this is a reminder again about how you might engage with the network.’”
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