U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson has appointed Washington State Health Officer Maxine Hayes to a national committee dedicated to reducing the infant death rate in the United States. Hayes, a UW clinical professor of pediatrics and of health services, will serve a four-year term on the Advisory Committee on Infant Mortality.

Originally from Jackson, Miss., Hayes has been with the Washington State Department of Health for 16 years, and previously practiced at the Odessa Brown Children's Clinic in Seattle. She helped establish the First Steps prenatal program for low-income pregnant women in 1989.