Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D., Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), will preside over the 88th meeting of the NIH Advisory Committee to the Director (ACD) on Thursday, May 6, 2004. Topics of the meeting will include presentations on recommendations from the Blue Ribbon Panel on Conflict of Interest Policies, a working group of the ACD; the NIH Director's Council of Public Representatives (COPR) Liaison Report; the Bioengineering Consortium (BECON) Report; and a discussion of the NIH Director's Pioneer Awards, an element of the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research.

The final report from the Blue Ribbon Panel will be posted to the ACD web site on May 6 at http://www.nih.gov/about/ethics_COI_panelreport.htm. The meeting will be available for remote viewing at http://videocast.nih.gov and may be viewed after the meeting at http://videocast.nih.gov/PastEvents.asp.

The NIH comprises the Office of the Director and 27 Institutes and Centers. The Office of the Director is the central office at NIH, and is responsible for setting policy for NIH and for planning, managing, and coordinating the programs and activities of all the NIH components. The NIH is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.