© European Community 2005
The head of the new European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), Zsuzanna Jakab, has begun the process of hiring staff. Jakab took up her post as director of the new agency on March 1 and says that 29 people, including 16 scientists, will be recruited in the current financial year. By 2010 the total number of staff could be 300.
Jakab has also been putting together an advisory panel of approximately 50 experts from various member states to give expert guidance. The panel is scheduled to hold its first meeting on April 28 at the ECDC's Stockholm headquarters.
To buttress the new body's limited funding – €4 million (USD $5.2 million) this year, €14 million in 2006, and €29 million in 2007 – Jakab is lobbying member states to pay the salaries of high-ranking experts who actually work at the center. Sweden and France ...
