6312 Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 27 / Tuesday, February 10, 2004 / Notices 

(C) meet the professional standards 

for civil service employment in the IHS; 

or 

(D) be employed in an Indian health 

program without service obligation; and 

(3) submit to the Secretary an 

application for a contract to the Loan 

Repayment Program. 

All applicants must sign and submit 

to the Secretary, a written contract 

agreeing to accept repayment of 

educational loans and to serve for the 

applicable period of obligated service in 

a priority site as determined by the 

Secretary, and submit a signed affidavit 

attesting to the fact that they have been 

informed of the relative merits of the 

U.S. PHS Commissioned Corps and the 

Civil Service as employment options. 

Once the applicant is approved for 

participation in the LRP, the applicant 

will receive confirmation of his/her loan 

repayment award and the duty site at 

which he/she will serve his/her loan 

repayment obligation. 

The IHS has identified the positions 

in each Indian health program for which 

there is a need or vacancy and ranked 

those positions in order of priority by 

developing discipline-specific 

prioritized lists of sites. Ranking criteria 

for these sites include the following: 

(a) Historically critical shortages 

caused by frequent staff turnover; 

(b) Current unmatched vacancies in a 

Health Profession Discipline; 

(c) Projected vacancies in a Health 

Profession Discipline; 

(d) Ensuring that the staffing needs of 

Indian health programs administered by 

an Indian Tribe or Tribal or health 

organization receive consideration on an 

equal basis with programs that are 

administered directly by the Service; 

and 

(e) Giving priority to vacancies in 

Indian health programs that have a need 

for health professionals to provide 

health care services as a result of 

individuals having breached LRP 

contracts entered into under this 

section. 

(f) Consistent with this priority 

ranking, in determining applications to 

be approved and contracts to accept, the 

IHS will give priority to applications 

made by Americana Indians and Alaska 

Natives and to individuals recruited 

through the efforts of Indian Tribes or 

Tribal or Indian organizations. 

(g) Funds appropriated for the LRP in 

FY 2004 will be distributed among the 

health professions as follows: 

allopathic/osteopathic practitioners will 

receive 27 percent, registered nurses 20 

percent, mental health professionals 10 

percent, dentists 12 percent, 

pharmacists 10 percents, optometrists 5 

percent, physician assistants/advanced 

practice nurses 6 percent, podiatrists 4 

percent, physical therapists 2 percent, 

other professions 4 percent. This 

requirement does not apply if the 

number of applicants from these groups, 

respectively, is not sufficient to meet the 

requirement. 

Applicants whose applications were 

complete by September 30, 2000, and 

who want to compete in the FY 2004 

award cycle, will receive a site score 

equal to either their FY 2000, FY 2001, 

FY 2002, FY 2003 or the FY 2004 score, 

whichever is higher. 

The following factors are equal in 

weight when applied, and are applied 

when all other criteria are equal and a 

selection must be made between 

applicants. 

One or all of the following factors may 

be applicable to an applicant, and the 

applicant who has the most of these 

factors, all other criteria being equal, 

would be selected. 

(a) An applicant’s length of current 

employment in the IHS, Tribal, or urban 

program. 

(b) Availability for service earlier than 

other applicants (first come, first 

served). 

(c) Date the individual’s application 

was received. 

Any individual who enters this 

program and satisfactorily completes his 

or her obligated period of service may 

apply to extend his/her contract on a 

year-by-year basis, as determined by the 

IHS. Participants extending their 

contracts will receive up to the 

maximum amount of $20,000 per year 

plus an additional 20 percent for 

Federal Withholding. Participants who 

were awarded loan repayment contracts 

prior to FY 2000 will be awarded 

extensions up to the amount of $30,000 

a year and 31 percent in tax subsidy if 

funds are available, and will not exceed 

the total of the individual’s outstanding 

eligible health profession educational 

loans. 

Any individual who owes an 

obligation for health professional 

service to the Federal government, a 

State, or other entity is not eligible for 

the LRP unless the obligation will be 

completely satisfied before they begin 

service under this program. 

The IHS Area Offices and Service 

Units are authorized to provide 

additional funding to make awards to 

applicants in the LRP, but must be in 

compliance with any limits in the 

appropriation and section 108 of the 

Indian Health Care Improvement Act 

not to exceed the amount authorized in 

the IHS appropriation (up to 

$27,000,000 for FY 2004.) 

Should an IHS Area Office contribute 

to the LRP, those funds will be used for 

only those sites located in that Area. 

Those sites will retain their relative 

ranking from the national site-ranking 

list. For example, the Albuquerque Area 

Office identifies supplemental monies 

for dentists. Only the dental positions 

within the Albuquerque Area will be 

funded with the supplemental monies 

consistent with the national ranking and 

site index within that Area. 

Should an IHS Service Unit 

contribute to the LRP, those funds will 

be used for only those sites located in 

that Service Unit. Those sites will retain 

their relative ranking from the national 

site-ranking list. For example, Chinle 

Service Unit identifies supplemental 

monies for pharmacists. The Chinle 

Service Unit consists of two facilities, 

namely the Chinle Comprehensive 

Health Care Facility and the Tsaile PHS 

Indian Health Center. The national 

ranking will be used for the Chinle 

Comprehensive Health Care Facility 

(Score = 44) and the Tsaile PHS Indian 

Health Center (Score = 46). With a score 

of 46, the Tsaile PHS Indian Health 

Center would receive priority over the 

Chinle Comprehensive Health Care 

Facility. 

This program is not subject to review 

under Executive Order 12372. 

The Catalog of Federal Domestic 

Assistance number is 93.164.

Dated: February 3, 2004. 

Charles W. Grim, 

Assistant Surgeon General, Director, Indian 

Health Service.

[FR Doc. 04–2727 Filed 2–9–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4160–16–M

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

National Institutes of Health 

Government-Owned Inventions; 

Availability for Licensing

AGENCY: National Institutes of Health, 

Public Health Service, DHHS.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: The inventions listed below 

are owned by an agency of the U.S. 

Government and are available for 

licensing in the U.S. in accordance with 

35 U.S.C. 207 to achieve expeditious 

commercialization of results of 

federally-funded research and 

development. Foreign patent 

applications are filed on selected 

inventions to extend market coverage 

for companies and may also be available 

for licensing.

ADDRESSES: Licensing information and 

copies of the U.S. patents listed below 

may be obtained by contacting Susan S. 

Federal Register / Vol. 69, No. 27 / Tuesday, February 10, 2004 / Notices 6313

Rucker, J.D., at the Office of Technology 

Transfer, National Institutes of Health, 

6011 Executive Boulevard, Suite 325, 

Rockville, Maryland 20852–3804; 

telephone: 301–435–4478; fax: 301–

402–0220; email: 

ruckersu@mail.nih.gov.

Met Proto-Oncogene and a Method for 

Predicting Breast Cancer Progression 

Ilan Tsarfaty, James H. Resau, Iafa 

Keydar, Donna Faletto, George F. Vande 

Woude (NCI); U.S. Patent 6,673,559 

issued 06 Jan 2004 (DHHS Reference 

No. E–046–1991/3–US–01). 

The invention described and claimed 

in this patent is generally applicable to 

assessing the prognosis of cancer. In 

particular, the invention is useful in 

assessing the whether or not breast 

cancer is likely undergo metastasis. The 

met proto-oncogene is located on the 

long arm of chromosome 7 at 7q31. Its 

activity has been linked to the invasive/

metastatic phenotype of several cancers 

in addition to breast cancer, e.g.

prostate, stomach. 

According to this invention the 

likelihood of metastasis of breast cancer 

is assessed by measuring the amount of 

(a) protein produced by the met protooncogene, (b) levels of the met protooncogene itself, or (c) levels of mRNA 

produced by the met proto-oncogene in 

breast tumor tissue and comparing it 

with the amount present in normal 

ductal tissue of the breast. The 

methodology of this invention may be 

carried out, for example, using 

antibody-based assays (ELISA or 

Western Blot), PCR, or Northern Blots. 

This work has been published at 

Tsarfaty, et al., Science 257(5074): 

1258–61 (Aug 28 1992), Tsarfaty, et al., 

Anal Quant Cytol Histol 21(5): 397–408 

(Oct 1999) and Hay, et al., J Cell 

Biochem Suppl 39(): 184–93 (2002). 

Foreign patent protection is not 

available for any of these inventions. 

Method of Targeting DNA 

Rafael D. Camerini-Otero, Margaret 

McIntosh, Carol S. Camerini-Otero and 

Lance J. Ferrin (NIDDK); U.S. Patent 

5,460,941 issued 24 Oct 1995 (DHHS 

Reference No. E–006–1991/1–US–02). 

Cloning of the RecA Gene From 

Thermus Acquatics YT–1

Rafael D. Camerini-Otero and Evelina 

Angov (NIDDK); U.S. Patent 5,510,473 

issued 23 Apr 1996 (DHHS Reference 

No. E–196–1993/0–US–01). 

Rec-A Assisted Cloning of DNA 

Lance J. Ferrin, Rafael D. CameriniOtero (NIDDK); U.S. Patent 5,707,811 

issued 13 Jan 1998 (DHHS Reference 

No. E–166–1995/0–US–02). 

Promotion of Homologous DNA Pairing 

by RecA-derived Peptides 

Oleg Voloshin, Lijiang Wang, Rafael 

D. Camerini-Otero (NIDDK); U.S. Patent 

5,731,411 issued 24 Mar 1998 (DHHS 

Reference No. E–139–1995/0–US–01). 

These inventions are available for 

license separately or together. Foreign 

patent protection is not available for any 

of these inventions. 

The inventions described in these 

patents are generally applicable to the 

process of homologous DNA 

recombination. The inventions may be 

used in conjunction with each other, to 

efficiently carry out the process of 

homologous recombination, or they may 

be used separately. 

The inventions may be exploited 

generally in processes associated with 

therapeutic purposes such as gene 

inactivation, correction of gene 

mutations and the control of gene 

expression. For example, these 

inventions may be used to inhibit the 

transcription of a DNA sequence such as 

that encoding an oncogene or a virus. In 

addition, these inventions may be 

exploited in research applications such 

as sequence-specific mapping, cloning, 

and manipulation of complex genomes 

including the generation of transgenic 

animals. 

Specific examples of the use of these 

inventions include (a) protecting a DNA 

sequence from modification by an 

enzyme such as methylase or cleavage 

by a restriction enzyme, (b) effecting 

site-specific cleavage by introducing a 

chemical cleavage moiety to the 

oligonucleotide, (c) cloning a genomic 

DNA fragment containing a 

predetermined sequence, (d) identifying 

a genetic mutation, e.g., point 

mutations, insertions and deletions, and 

(e) increasing the stringency thereby 

improving the specificity of DNA-DNA, 

DNA-RNA or RNA-RNA interactions at 

high temperatures. 

This work has been published at 

Hsieh et al., Genes & Dev. 4(11): 1951–

63 (Nov 1990); Angov et al., J. Bacteriol.

176(5): 1405–12 (Mar 1994); Voloshin et 

al., Science 272(5263): 868–72 (May 10, 

1996); and Ferrin LJ, Genet. Eng. (NY)

17: 21–30 (1995).

Dated: February 2, 2004. 

Steven M. Ferguson, 

Director, Division of Technology Development 

and Transfer, Office of Technology Transfer, 

National Institutes of Health.

[FR Doc. 04–2765 Filed 2–9–04; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 4140–01–P

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND 

HUMAN SERVICES 

National Institutes of Health 

National Institute of Diabetes and 

Digestive and Kidney Diseases; Notice 

of Meetings 

Pursuant to section 10(d) of the 

Federal Advisory Committee Act, as 

amended (5 U.S.C. Appendix 2), notice 

is hereby given of the following 

meetings. 

The meetings will be open to the 

public as indicated below, with 

attendance limited to space available. 

Individuals who plan to attend and 

need special assistance, such as sign 

language interpretation or other 

reasonable accommodations, should 

notify the Contact Person listed below 

in advance of the meetings. 

The meetings will be closed to the 

public in accordance with the 

provisions set forth in sections 

552b(c)(4) and 552b(c)(6), title 5 U.S.C., 

as amended. The grant applications and 

the discussions could disclose 

confidential trade secrets or commercial 

property such as patentable material, 

and personal information concerning 

individuals associated with the grant 

applications, the disclosure of which 

would constitute a clearly unwarranted 

invasion of personal privacy.

Name of Committee: National Institute of 

Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases 

Initial Review Group, Diabetes, 

Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases B 

Subcommittee. 

Date: March 22–24, 2004. 

Open: March 22, 2004, 7 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. 

Agenda: To review procedures and discuss 

policies. 

Place: Double Tree Rockville, 1750 

Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. 

Closed: March 22, 2004, 7:30 p.m. to 10 

p.m. 

Agenda: To review and evaluate grant 

applications. 

Place: Double Tree Rockville, 1750 

Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. 

Closed: March 23, 2004, 8 p.m. to 5 p.m. 

Agenda: To review and evaluate grant 

applications. 

Place: Double Tree Rockville, 1750 

Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. 

Closed: March 24, 2004, 8:00 a.m. to 3 p.m. 

Agenda: To review and evaluate grant 

applications. 

Place: Double Tree Rockville, 1750 

Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. 

Contact Person: John F. Connaughton, PhD, 

Scientific Review Administrator, Review 

Branch, DEA, NIDDK, National Institutes of 

Health, Room 757, 6707 Democracy 

Boulevard, Bethesda, MD 20892. (301) 594–

7797; connaughtonj@extra.niddk.nih.gov.

Name of Committee: National Institute of 

Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases 

Initial Review Group, Digestive Diseases and 

Nutrition C Subcommittee.