In the wake of Kristine Gebbie’s resignation, President Clinton has appointed Patsy Fleming, a special assistant to Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Donna Shalala, as interim National AIDS Policy Coordinator. Prior to coming to HHS, Fleming (who was included in the "POZ 50" top AIDS policymakers in POZ No. 3), was an assistant to New York representative Ted Weiss specializing in AIDS and public health issues. The Baltimore Sun reports that, despite her background, Fleming does not want to be considered as a candidate for the permanent position of AIDS czar. Names most often heard as possible candidates to permanently replace Gebbie include Tim Westmoreland, policy adviser to House Subcommittee on Health and the Environment chair Henry Waxman; Lowell Weicker, maverick former governor of Connecticut; Phill Wilson, policy director for AIDS Project Los Angeles and Helene Gayle, Md., associate director of the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Acitvists fear that unless President Cliniton gives the office some teeth it won’t matter who is appointed.