Kathy Cravedi, who has served as deputy director of the National Library of Medicine’s Office of Communications and Public Liaison (OCPL) since 1996 and as NLM’s first public liaison officer, is the new OCPL Director. She succeeds Robert Mehnert, who retired in June 2007 after 40 years of service.

She came to the NLM in 1994, after specializing in health care issues as a Capitol Hill staffer, beginning in 1975. She served as staff director for the House Select Committee on Aging, Subcommittee on Health and Long-Term Care, assisting its legendary chairman, Rep. Claude Pepper, in passing legislation that resulted in the establishment of the National Institute on Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), and NLM’s National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI).

A graduate of the University of Montana, Cravedi earned an MS in criminology from American University, Washington, DC.