DotMed News, Feb. 7, 2007 WASHINGTON - HHS Secretary Michael O. Leavitt has appointed three new members to the National Advisory General Medical Sciences Council. Another membership change is the ex officio representative to the committee from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.  The new members are: Clifford W. Houston, Ph.D., associate vice president for educational outreach and Herman Barnett Distinguished Endowed Professor in Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. His research concentrates on the role of bacterial toxins in the development of disease. Dr. Houston earned a B.S. in microbiology and chemistry from Oklahoma State University-Stillwater and a Ph.D. in microbiology and immunology from the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City.