[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 236 (Tuesday, December 9, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 64852-64853]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-32089]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

National Institutes of Health


National Cancer Institute; Notice of National Cancer Institute 
Director's Consumer Liaison Group Meeting

    Notice is hereby given that the National Cancer Institute will hold 
its first public meeting of the Director's Consumer Liaison Group, 
beginning at 9:00 a.m. on December 17, 1997 and ending at 3:00 p.m. on 
December 18, 1997 at the Pooks Hill Marriott, Bethesda, MD. Seating is 
limited and will be on a first-come, first-served basis.
    The National Cancer Institute (NCI), the federal government's 
primary agency for cancer research, is bringing together fifteen (15) 
consumer-advocates to create a two-way street that enables them to 
interact directly with the scientific community at NCI on a wide range 
of programs and issues. The 15-member DCLG is made up of people 
involved in cancer advocacy and who reflect the breadth and diversity 
among those whose lives are touched by cancer. The DCLG will also help 
NCI to widen the pool of qualified consumer-advocates who can be called 
upon to serve on NCI advisory committees and other groups.
    The members are (in alphabetical order):

Paula E. Bowen, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Susan Lowell Butler, Alexandria, Va.
Manuel H. Castillo, Dayton, Ohio
Kerry J. Dewey, Missoula, Mont.
M. Venus Gines, Lithonia, Ga.
Felicia Schanche Hodge, Berkeley, Calif.
Michael Katz, New York, N.Y.
Susan A. Leigh, Tucson, Ariz.
Ruth Chiang Lin, Short Hills, N.J.
Gena H. Love, Albuquerque, N.M.
Susan McCarthy, Vancouver, Wash.
Daniel M. Moore, Jr., Decatur, Ill.
Lillouise Rogers, Chicago, Ill.
Susan K. Stewart, Highland Park, Ill.
Brad Zebrack, Ann Arbor, Mich.

    The majority of the newly appointed DCLG members are cancer 
survivors, but family members of cancer patients and health 
professionals involved in cancer advocacy are represented. The cancer 
experience of the group includes prostate, breast, kidney, ovarian, 
cervical, lung, bladder, and brain cancer, Hodgkin's disease, leukemia, 
sarcoma, and myeloma. The group represents Asian American, Native 
American, Hispanic, African American, and non-Hispanic white persons, 
the young and old, men and women, the medically underserved, and people 
from all geographic areas of the country, both rural and urban. The 
constituencies represented by the members include advocacy 
organizations that represent both specific cancers and all cancers. 
DCLG members will serve three-year terms. The three-fold purpose of the 
DCLG will be to:
    <bullet> Serve as a primary forum for discussing issues and 
concerns and exchanging viewpoints that are important to the broad 
development of NCI program and research priorities.
    <bullet> Help develop and establish processes, mechanisms, and 
criteria for identifying appropriate consumer advocates to serve on a 
variety of NCI program and policy advisory committees.
    <bullet> Establish and maintain strong collaborations between NCI 
and the cancer advocacy community.
    One purpose of this first meeting is to decide how the group will 
do its work. For example, how it will select a chair and identify 
members who will serve in the future. The DCLG will also discuss how it 
will communicate internally and with the broad advocacy community it 
represents. In addition, the group will begin discussion on several key 
issues for the Institute. The most pressing issues faced by cancer 
patients today, as described in the candidates' applications, include: 
Access to and availability of reliable cancer information; access to 
effective, high-quality treatment, including clinical trials; increased 
rehabilitation, psychosocial support, and other survivor concerns; and 
participation in setting research priorities. NCI may also begin issues 
to the attention of the group.
    Individuals who plan to attend the meeting and need special 
assistance, such as sign language interpretation or other special 
accommodations, should contact Elaine C. Lee, in the Office of Liaison 
Activities, National Cancer Institute, Building 31, Room 10A06; or by 
calling telephone No. 301 594-3194 or sending a fax to 301 480-7558. 
For additional information, contact Ms. Lee at the above address.


[[Page 64853]]


    Dated: December 2, 1997.
Marvin Kalt,
Director, Division of Extramural Activities, National Cancer Institute.
[FR Doc. 97-32089 Filed 12-8-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-M