The PACCARB was created by Executive Order 13676, Combating Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria, signed by President Barack Obama on September 18, 2014. The Advisory Council is co-chaired by Ashton B. Carter, the U.S. Secretary of Defense, Tom Vilsack, the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, and Sylvia Mathews Burwell, the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services. Other council members include representatives of 10 additional federal government agencies. Objectives of PACCARB are to 1) identify research and funding mechanisms focused on slowing the emergence of resistant bacteria and preventing the spread of resistant infections; and 2) implement public health programs and reporting policies that advance antibiotic resistance prevention and foster antibiotic stewardship in healthcare settings.
Dr. McLain has been performing research on agricultural and municipal water impacts on environmental antibiotic resistance for approximately 10 years. Her work has highlighted the critical need for including baseline resistance in studies of bacterial resistance in soil and water. Dr. McLain 's work has established that, because antibiotic resistance is a natural phenomenon, neglecting to consider baseline resistance results in erroneous data.