The Special Populations Working Group reports to the Advisory Committee to the Director (ACD) of NCI. It was established recently to serve as a link between the ACD and special populations to help the ACD understand and articulate their concerns and issues and transmit them to the Office of Special Populations Research (OSPR). This link also helps minorities, minority communities, and other special populations understand OSPR and other NCI programs and priorities, and serves to support NCI in maintaining strong collaborations with special population groups. The Working Group serves an essential role in establishing an avenue of communication between the OSPR and the many diverse groups, organizations, and institutions involved in special populations issues and in enhancing NCI's information dissemination and priority-setting processes. The Working Group provides NCI assistance in assessing the progress of OSPR activities and implementation of initiatives, defining gaps and shortfalls, and identifying opportunities that may exist in research, prevention, treatment, control, and outreach. The Group will identify barriers to further progress and provide feedback for formulating the operating policies for the future direction of the NCI and OSPR. The Working Group has been appointed by the NCI Director and consists of 14 members, including ex pofficio members of the ACD and the Director's Consumer Liaison Group. The members represent a variety of medical and nonmedical disciplines as well as individuals knowledgeable about cancer through experience in fields related to cancer education, cancer information services, community outreach, and cancer survival.