The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) convened its third annual public interest organization (PIO) meeting to encourage and promote public input and involvement in Institute activities. Approximately 120 individuals participated in the 1-day meeting. They included members of about 45 public interest organizations, as well as representatives from universities, professional societies, the NHLBI, and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Advisory Council (NHLBAC). The agenda and format for the meeting were designed to enable the PIOs to interact and share information and experiences among themselves. This PIO meeting follows a first meeting (www.nhlbi.nih.gov/public/liaison.htm), held February 9, 2000, and a second meeting (www.nhlbi.nih.gov/public/pio2001.htm), held January 31, 2001.

The focus for the third annual meeting was clinical research. The agenda included presentations, resource panels, and breakout sessions. First, a resource panel presented four perspectives on "communicating your message." The participants then divided into two concurrent breakout sessions, which were repeated in the afternoon, to address separately two topics:

• Involving participants in clinical research
• Funding research.

The breakout sessions included presentations from resource panels and discussion. The afternoon period also included two presentations: translating genetic research to practice, and starting up a public interest organization. The meeting concluded with a question-and-answer period and closing remarks by the Director, NHLBI.

As in the previous meetings, this meeting was organized to encourage interactive, small-group, roundtable discussions for the PIOs to explore potential areas of collaboration among themselves and with the NHLBI. This report summarizes the presentations and discussions from the meeting.

Dr. Barbara Alving, Deputy Director, NHLBI, welcomed everyone to the meeting. She commented that the annual PIO meetings offer opportunities for organizations to learn about the NHLBI and for the NHLBI to learn about its constituencies. She reviewed the agenda and invited everyone to participate in the discussions and to provide feedback on the meeting to the NHLBI.

After providing an overview of the NHLBI and introducing staff members, Dr. Alving described some of the Institute's community outreach programs. As an example, she introduced Garfield (© Paws, Inc.), the NHLBI's "SpokesCat" for its Star Sleeper Campaign (starsleep.nhlbi.nih.gov). Garfield is traveling throughout the United States to teach children the importance of healthy and adequate sleep.

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Last Modified: 3/19/02