The outgoing head of the influential U.S. Preventive Services Task Force named pediatrician Dr. Virginia A. Moyer the new chair Monday.

Moyer is a professor of pediatrics with Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and the chief of academic medicine service with Texas Children's Hospital. She also serves as deputy editor of the journal Pediatrics.

She'll be taking up the reins with new co-vice chairs, Dr. Albert L. Siu, a geriatrician and professor of geriatrics and palliative medicine with Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, and Dr. Michael L. LeFevre, a professor of family and community medicine with University of Missouri School of Medicine in Columbia, Mo.

Siu also directs geriatric research at the Bronx VA, while LeFevre also serves as chief medical information officer with University of Missouri Health Care.

"The new leadership of the USPSTF brings extensive experience in pediatric, geriatric and family medicine that will greatly enhance the breadth of knowledge of the Task Force," outgoing chair Dr. Ned Calonge said in a statement.

Calonge's tenure coincided with one of the most controversial episodes in the history of USPSTF, the 2009 recommendations to raise the age at which screening mammography occurs, from 40 to 50. This prompted a massive backlash from radiologists and some women's health groups, although it drew support from other quarters and brought the debate over the efficacy of screening programs into the national spotlight.

The USPSTF is a 16-member, independent, volunteer panel made of private-sector medical experts that provides recommendations for preventive medicine and primary care. It was founded in 1984. Since 1998, it has been sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

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