John Cawley, associate professor of policy analysis and management in the College of Human Ecology at Cornell, has accepted a seat on the Social Sciences and Population Studies Study Section of the Center for Scientific Review at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHSS).

Study section members are selected on the basis of their "demonstrated competence and achievement in their scientific discipline as evidenced by the quality of research accomplishments, publications in scientific journals and other significant scientific activities, achievement and honors." They contribute to national biomedical research by reviewing grant applications to the National Institutes of Health, an agency of the DHSS, and by making recommendations based on the status of research in their fields.

Cawley, who earned a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago in 1999, focuses his research on health economics, particularly the economics of obesity.