Beth Furlong, Ph.D., J.D, R.N., an associate professor of nursing at Creighton University, has been named to the Director’s Council of Public Representatives at the National Institutes of Health.

The council brings important matters of public interest forward for discussion and advises and assists the director in increasing public participation in NIH activities and public understanding of the organization.

Furlong and five other new appointees “bring a wealth of knowledge and professional experience in the areas of rural and community health, patient advocacy, health policy, nursing education, and communications, along with a strong commitment to enhancing public participation in the biomedical and behavioral research enterprise," NIH Director Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D., said today.

Furlong, a faculty associate with Creighton’s Center for Health Policy and Ethics, has four decades of experience in community health nursing. She has taught health ethics and related subjects to nurses and physicians in the Republic of Azerbaijan, Georgia, Lithuania, and Armenia. Her international experience includes working as a Peace Corps volunteer in India and Fulbright fellowships in Jordan and Hungary.