@@Mark I have a few questions re the selection of @@Deborah Kavounas, which do not relate to her private online identity, so they should not conflict with her online privacy concerns, and should be discussed in view of the sensitivity of the role.
You're right that your questions don't conflict with Deborah's privacy concerns. I don't agree that any of your questions have any relevance to any 'sensitivity' of the role, since they have no real bearing on whether Deborah will do a good job of representing Phoenix Rising on the CDC workgroup. But in the interests of transparency I'm happy to answer them.
I have searched these forums, but not found any discussion of these points, which I find a little puzzling. Or I haven't looked hard enough.
I suppose most people are more interested in answering Deborah's question about why the new CDC ME/CFS educational materials matter to you and what you'd like to see included. I don't find it at all puzzling that most people consider that a better use of their time and energy.
But, as you say, regardless...
What was the basis of Deborah's selection?
Because she volunteered, nobody else did, and she is clearly eminently suited to the role.
Why has Deborah been described as an 'excellent' volunteer, without qualification?
Because she is: she described her background, I spoke with her on video chat, we know her as a forum member and all board members and staff are agreed that we believe Deborah will do a very good job. Her experience as a caregiver, her understanding of the forum membership, her knowledge about ME/CFS, her relevant professional experience and her capability to do some things that ME/CFS patients would struggle to cope with, are all part of why I believe she will be an excellent representative.
Was she the only volunteer? If not, why was she selected over others?
The only volunteer.
Since Deborah is a public identity, what further details about her background should we know about?
It's up to Deborah what she wants to tell you about her background. I don't really think there's anything you need to know.
Does Deborah have any potential conflicts of interest with taking on the role, in her view or what could be interpreted as conflict of interest in the views of members of this forum?
No. I explored this with Deborah, there's no conflict of interest.
Has Deborah ever been involved in the pharmaceutical industry in any capacity?
Tangentially, in that she owns a business that supplies data analytics services to the pharmaceutical industry, but that business isn't relevant to this workgroup and Deborah is participating on this workgroup as a caregiver, so this doesn't represent a conflict of interest with the needs of this role.