OraSure Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:OSUR), the market leader in oral fluid diagnostics, is pleased to announce that Debra Fraser-Howze, current President/CEO of the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS (NBLCA), will join the Company as Vice President, Government and External Affairs on January 7, 2008.
Fraser-Howze will represent OraSure with government officials regarding the issues, policies, and laws impacting the Company’s businesses, including the infectious disease and substance abuse testing businesses. In addition, she will be responsible for developing relationships with key opinion leaders in the public and private sectors, trade associations, non-profit groups, and governmental staff groups and agencies to build support for OraSure’s policy positions. Fraser-Howze will report to Douglas A. Michels, OraSure’s President and CEO.
“Debra brings an incredible depth of experience and leadership in community and public service to OraSure,” said Michels. “She will most definitely enhance our Company’s ability to understand and address the critical issues facing the communities we serve in the fight against HIV/AIDS. With her diverse talents and expertise, she will be a major contributor to the future success of our Company on several fronts.”
Fraser-Howze has served as the President/CEO of NBLCA, an organization which she founded in 1987. The NBLCA conducts policy, research and advocacy on HIV and AIDS to ensure effective participation of its leadership in all policy and resource allocation decisions at the national, state and local levels of communities of African descent nationwide. NBLCA is now the largest Black HIV and AIDS non-profit organization of its kind in America.
“I am extremely excited about joining OraSure,” said Fraser-Howze. “Since the founding of NBLCA more than 20 years ago, OraSure has been a shining star in our fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS. The advent of the Company’s oral fluid rapid test technology has had a significant global impact on the epidemic.”
Fraser-Howze has been widely recognized for more than two decades of global leadership to communities of color regarding teenage pregnancy, social welfare, and HIV and AIDS. She advised two U.S. Presidents while serving on the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS from 1995-2001. She was the Vice Chair of the HIV Human Services Planning Council in New York City and Chaired the National Institute of Heath’s Public Education Technology Committee. In 2003 she was appointed to the New York City Commission on AIDS.
“Debra and her organization NBLCA has been at the forefront in the fight against HIV/AIDS in our communities. She is the quintessential leader and her legacy at NBLCA will live on for many years to come,” said U.S. Congresswoman Donna M. Christensen, chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus Health Braintrust of which Fraser-Howze is a member. “It has been an honor to work side-by-side with Debra in our efforts to fight HIV/AIDS. I look forward to our continued work together in her new capacity at OraSure, a company that has clearly demonstrated a strong commitment to the communities we serve.”
Prior to her founding presidency at NBLCA, Fraser-Howze served as Director of Teenage Services at the New York Urban League. She was also a Legislative Assistant to the Honorable Charles B. Rangel (D-NY), United States Member of Congress, while a National Urban League Fellow.
Fraser-Howze holds a B.A. in Interpersonal Communications from Hunter College and a Master’s in Public Administration from Baruch College.
About OraSure Technologies
OraSure Technologies develops, manufactures and markets oral fluid specimen collection devices using proprietary oral fluid technologies, diagnostic products including immunoassays and other in vitro diagnostic tests, and other medical devices. These products are sold in the United States as well as internationally to various clinical laboratories, hospitals, clinics, community-based organizations and other public health organizations, distributors, government agencies, physicians’ offices, and commercial and industrial entities.
OraSure Technologies is the leading supplier of oral-fluid collection devices and in vitro diagnostic assays to the employment, criminal justice, drug treatment, life insurance and public health markets for the detection of abused drugs and the antibodies to HIV. Based in Bethlehem, Pa., the company develops, manufactures and markets oral specimen collection devices, in vitro diagnostic tests, and other medical devices. For more information on the Company, please go to www.orasure.com.
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