School of Nursing Professor John Gallagher recently received special recognition for his contributions to the National Institute of Health (NIH) COVID-19 Guidelines Panel.
The panel has worked on COVID-19 treatment guidelines for front-line workers. Gallagher, the only nurse in the country appointed to the panel, has been a member since 2020.
Gallagher received a letter of appreciation in December for his work on the NIH “Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Treatment Guidelines” from two of the nation’s top doctors — Francis Collins, former director of the NIH, and Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Gallagher’s work helped create treatment guidelines used across the country during the pandemic that supported clinicians who were caring for patients suffering from the illness.
“Your devotion to the process, participating in virtual meetings that typically occurred multiple times per week, and numerous hours spent in writing and editing content, are much appreciated,” Collins and Fauci wrote in the letter.
“We are proud that, with your help and contributions, the guidelines have been updated 38 times since their first release in April 2020, reflecting our rapidly changing understanding of COVID-19. This has enabled the guidelines to be a ‘gold standard’ for currency and accuracy. We are also proud that the guidelines have been so widely used, with over 27 million page views as of November 21, 2021. Almost half of the page views currently come from outside the United States.”
“I was very proud that our individual efforts were recognized by these letters,” Gallagher said. “This panel operates at the highest level of integrity, and the guidelines we produce are based on the best scientific evidence available.”