WASHINGTON - PRESIDENT Barack Obama has selected a senior researcher from Georgetown University to direct his Office of National AIDS Policy, the White House announced on Thursday.

Jeffrey S. Crowley will lead an office tasked with coordinating US government efforts to reduce HIV infection in the United States and leading treatment of Americans with HIV/AIDS.

Mr Crowley, who holds a master's degree in public health from Johns Hopkins University, has worked since 2000 as senior research scholar at Georgetown University's health policy institute.

'Jeffrey Crowley brings the experience and expertise that will help our nation address the ongoing HIV/AIDS crisis and help my administration develop policies that will serve Americans with disabilities,' Obama said in a statement. 'In both of these key areas, we continue to face serious challenges and we must take bold steps to meet them.'

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported last summer that it had been underestimating new HIV cases in the US and that a better blood test and new statistical methods showed roughly 56,300 new HIV infections in 2006 - about a 40 percent increase from the 40,000 annual estimate used for the past dozen years.

Obama's 2010 budget proposal released on Thursday pledged increased resources to domestic HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment, though no dollar figure was specified.

Mr Crowley previously worked at the National Association of People with AIDS. His areas of expertise include Medicaid policy.

Democratic Rep Barbara Lee, who chairs the Congressional Black Caucus, welcomed Mr Crowley's appointment in a statement. 'We need a national AIDS strategy to better coordinate and guide our response to this devastating disease,' she said. -- AP