After facing criticism for not having any current nurses on the advisory board, the new additions are Jane Hopkins, a registered nurse trained in mental health; Jill Jim, who is an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation and the executive director of the Navajo Nation Department of Health; and David Michaels, an epidemiologist and professor at George Washington University.
“I am proud to serve as a member of the Biden-Harris Transition COVID-19 Advisory Board. I look forward to working with fellow members of the advisory board to help prepare an urgent, robust, and professional response to the global public health crisis, for President-elect Biden to lead with on day one,” stated Dr. Jim in a statement.
This brings the total number of members on the coronavirus advisory board to 16.
“As COVID-19 surges across the country, I need a team advising me and a transition that offers diverse perspectives and viewpoints,” Biden wrote in a statement. “Ms. Hopkins, Dr. Jim, and Dr. Michaels will strengthen the board’s work and help ensure that our COVID-19 planning will address inequities in health outcomes and the workforce.”
The COVID-19 advisory board will help shape the approach to managing the current surge in coronavirus infections as well as ensuring an eventual vaccine is safe and effective, according to Biden’s transition team.
Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez recommended Dr. Jim to be appointed to the Biden-Harris COVID-19 Advisory Board, according to a statement from the Navajo Nation.
“Dr. Jim’s extensive public health experience and expertise has been a major benefit for the Navajo Nation throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and now she will serve on a much broader level to help fight this modern-day monster throughout the country,” said President Nez said in a statement. “We are very proud of Dr. Jim and all of our public health experts and frontline warriors who are fighting for us and saving lives every day. I am looking forward to supporting Dr. Jim’s role with the Biden-Harris COVID-19 Advisory Board and I am optimistic that the Biden-Harris transition team will continue to consider more members of the Navajo Nation for cabinet and high-level appointments as they assemble their administration."