James Berger to Retire from the Department of Health & Human Services

James Berger, MS, MT(ASCP) SBB, will retire from his position as the senior blood and tissue advisor to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Assistant Secretary of Health, Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy, Division of Blood and Tissue Safety and Availability effective Feb. 28. He served as the Designated Federal Officer for both the Advisory Committee for Blood & Tissue Safety & Availability and also for the Tick-Borne Disease Working Group which sunset in 2022 after providing three Congressional Reports to Congress addressing the gaps in Tick-Borne Diseases. 

His previous HHS responsibility was as the acting director for Blood Safety and Availability and as the associate public health advisor for Blood, Organ and Tissue Safety Policy. Previous work experience was with the Department of Veterans Affairs as the National Enforcement Officer and as the Department of Defense Functional Manager for identifying and standardizing the blood bank software requirements that were used in the military for both peacetime and contingency operations. His first job after retiring from the Air Force was with the American Red Cross as the senior manufacturing engineer, developing and testing new products, equipment and processes. Berger’s last military job was as the chief of the Air Force Blood Program, Medical Readiness Division.  He was responsible for developing policies and procedures to ensure rapid expansion, mobilization, and deployment of medical resources to support Air Force contingency operations worldwide.    

Berger also served on the AABB Hemovigilance Committee and the AABB Interorganizational Task Force on Domestic Disasters and Acts of Terrorism. He represented the HHS on the Disaster Task Force for 15 years.