New York health department appoints AIDS director

The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene announced last week that it has appointed Scott E. Kellerman, MD, as assistant commissioner for HIV/AIDS services. Kellerman will replace former assistant commissioner Marjorie Hill, who left the health department to head the newly formed Women's Institute at New York-based Gay Men's Health Crisis. Kellerman, who will begin his duties at the health department in March, will administer the department's numerous HIV initiatives, including the promotion of rapid HIV antibody testing and HIV prevention efforts. He will also be responsible for implementing the HIV continuum of care plan developed by the city's HIV Prevention Planning Group and the HIV Health and Human Services Planning Council. Kellerman will oversee more than $200 million in federal, state, and local AIDS funding. Kellerman joins the New York City health department after five years with the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, where he worked in the HIV Surveillance Branch and later served as section chief in the Behavioral and Clinical Surveillance Branch. He's also served as deputy associate director for science for the CDC's Epidemiology Program Office and as a consultant to the CDC's Global AIDS Program. "We are delighted that Dr. Kellerman will be joining the department to lead our efforts to stop HIV," said New York health commissioner Thomas Frieden. "Dr. Kellerman has extensive experience and is highly regarded for his work in HIV and AIDS. The health department is committed to ensuring that New York City is a model of how to effectively combat this epidemic, and having Dr. Kellerman on board to oversee our initiatives will help keep us on the forefront of the fight against HIV/AIDS."