Membership

The S-TAC shall have a diverse membership with broad capabilities, where each member brings important and relevant areas of expertise.

1. The S-TAC shall include representatives with qualifications in the areas of clinical, statistical, and/or epidemiological research related to transplantation, multi-center data collection, quality control, and utilization and biostatistics. Clinicians should have training and experience in transplant issues dealing with the kidney, liver, heart, lung, and/or pancreas. To the extent possible, representatives from relevant OPTN committees, especially representatives from organ-specific committees, shall be included as members of the S-TAC.
2. The size of the S-TAC should be between 8 to 10 members.
3. The Project Officer and the Director of the Division of Transplantation, or their designees, shall serve as ex-officio, non-voting members of the S-TAC and all sub-committees and working groups that may be established. In addition, the Project Officer shall have the authority to have Federal experts present at S-TAC meetings and be involved in the work of the S-TAC. A representative of the OPTN, who is familiar with the data collected by the OPTN, shall serve as an ex-officio non-voting member of the S-TAC upon approval of the Project Officer.
4. For the initial term of the S-TAC, a Chair will be selected by the Contractor, with the approval of the Project Officer.
5. The Chair shall serve in this role for a standard term of two years.
6. Upon completion of this two year term, the Chair will be asked to serve as the Immediate Past Chair for one year. Duties will be to assist the new Chair during that first year, and to serve as Vice Chair for one year.
7. After one year, the Chair shall preside over the election of a Vice-Chair to assist in managing the S-TAC, to serve as Chair in the Chair’s absence, and to serve as the next Chair.
8. Members of the S-TAC shall serve for a standard term of two years. Initial terms may be longer for some members to achieve a staggering of membership terms in order to achieve continuity of membership as determined by the Chair and Contractor, and approved by the Project Officer. One third of the initial constituted committee shall have a term of the standard two years, one third shall have an intial term of three years, and one third shall have an initial term of four years.
9. Non-voting members shall have the same rights and privileges as other members, except that they shall not vote on any matter.
10. A majority of the members eligible to vote represented in person, by teleconference, or by video conference, shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business at any meeting. A vote of a majority of those present and eligible to vote shall be sufficient to transact any business that might come before the meeting. Interval actions of the committee may be taken by vote conducted via fax and/or e-mail.
11. The continued membership of a voting S-TAC member is contingent, though not solely based, upon the requirement that the member must attend at least two of the last four full sessions of the S-TAC. Members who are not in compliance with this requirement are subject to forfeiture of the rights and privileges accorded to them as appointed members of the S-TAC and may be asked to resign from the committee at the discretion of the Chairperson of the S-TAC.

Guard Against Conflicts of Interest

Since the technical expertise required to make informed decisions may best be obtained from those involved in organ procurement and transplantation, it is reasonable to expect that conflicts of interest may arise within the S-TAC. The S-TAC shall ensure that its deliberations do not constitute a conflict of interest for its members, and where conflicts do arise, the S-TAC shall conform to the following procedures:

1. Each year, each member of the S-TAC shall sign a statement of disclosure of conflicts of interest.
2. S-TAC members shall declare any possible conflict of interest in discussions during each S-TAC meeting and on other occasions such as in working groups, in publications, etc.
3. Continued membership on the S-TAC for an individual who has a change in the status of their position or employment that would or could be conceived as a real or potential conflict of interest, would necessitate a review by the S-TAC membership (or a subcommittee thereof) as to the appropriateness of that individual's continuation on the S-TAC.
4. Should special topics arise which bear potential conflict of interest concerns for individual members of the S-TAC, the S-TAC shall follow procedures that allow the affected member participation during deliberations but not in the decision making: The affected member may remain present during discussion, but shall not be permitted to vote on the issue, and shall be absent from the room during voting by other members.
5. When in doubt about conflicts of interest, the S-TAC shall err on the side of caution and transparency in order to assure the conflict of interest does not affect decisions of the S-TAC.
6. Conflict of Interest Certification coordinated by the Contractor shall certify to the HRSA Contracting Officer each year, in the documented minutes of the S-TAC, that such conflicts do not exist in the deliberations and decisions of the S-TAC.

Convene Meetings

1. The S-TAC shall meet at least four times a year with two in person meetings, or as modified by contract with HRSA. At least one meeting of the S-TAC shall be in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The quarterly S-TAC meetings shall be held with the full S-TAC.
2. Special meetings of the S-TAC may be called at any time by HRSA, the Contractor, the Chairperson, or a majority of the S-TAC members with approval of the Project Officer (based on available funds). Special meeting requests shall be submitted in writing to the Contractor and should state the requested time, place, and purpose of the meeting.
3. Expenses related to voting S-TAC members (excluding Federal members) attending S-TAC meetings shall be paid by the Contractor; however, S-TAC members shall receive no further financial compensation for their work.
4. The Contractor shall provide the Project Officer and the S-TAC members with a meeting agenda and background materials at least two weeks in advance of each scheduled S-TAC meeting.
5. Minutes of all S-TAC meetings shall be taken by the Contractor’s staff. All minutes shall be completed and distributed within two weeks following S-TAC meetings.

S-TAC Directed Studies

1. Studies requested by the S-TAC should be conducted by Contractor-assigned staff with appropriate training, experience, and credentials in medicine, biostatistics, epidemiology, and computer programming.

Annual Goals

1. The S-TAC shall develop an annual set of goals consistent with the scope of work and deliverables under this contract. The S-TAC shall consult with the relevant entities and organizations including the OPTN Policy Oversight Committee, the Project Officer, and the Secretary's Advisory Committee before establishing the annual set of goals.
2. Annual goals shall be submitted to the Project Officer by month 6, 15, and 27 of this contract or as modified by contract with HRSA.