CCR Grand Rounds June 7: Oncology Nursing Lecture Dr. Usha Menon, Associate Professor, University of Illinois at Chicago College of Nursing. "Literacy and Culture: Bridging Communication Gaps with Your Patients" June 14: No lecture. General Motors Cancer Research Foundation Annual Scientific Conference, June 14-15 CCR Grand Rounds are held 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. at the NIH campus in Bethesda, Md., in the Clinical Center's Lipsett Amphitheater.

Science Writers' Seminar to Showcase Blood-Borne Cancers
On June 20, NCI's Press Office will host the next in its series of seminars at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston. The seminar is geared primarily toward journalists who cover health and science issues. Researchers from Dana-Farber and NCI will provide perspectives on issues such as allogeneic stem cell transplantation to treat certain types of cancer, old therapies used in new ways to cure multiple myeloma, and the risk of a blood-borne cancer based on family history. Speakers include Drs. Ken Anderson and Robert Soiffer of Dana-Farber and Dr. Wyndham Wilson of NCI. The seminar also can be viewed via webcast at http://videocast.nih.gov/. Journalists can register for the seminar by contacting Dorie Hightower or Ann Benner in the NCI Press Office at 301-496-6641 or at ncipressofficers@mail.nih.gov.

New Glycemic Index Values Database Released
A new database that provides glycemic index (GI) values for common foods is now available on the NCI Web site. A growing number of epidemiologic studies have investigated GI and the Glycemic Load (GL) as potentially important exposures in cancer, and using these values, investigators can calculate the GL for each portion size of a food consumed.

The database was developed by the Nutritional Epidemiology Branch of NCI's Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics and the Risk Factor Monitoring and Methods Branch of NCI's Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences. To develop the database, researchers used published GI values for foods and assigned them to individual foods reported by adults who participated in the Department of Agriculture's 1994-96 Continuing Survey of Food Intakes of Individuals (CSFII). These GI values were used to assign GL values to foods found in NCI's Diet History Questionnaire, and other food frequency questionnaires used at NCI. For more information, visit http://riskfactor.cancer.gov/tools/glycemic/.

Small Grants Program Grantee Meeting
The 2005 Small Grants Program Grantee Meeting sponsored by NCI's Behavioral Research Program, the American Cancer Society, and the Lance Armstrong Foundation met May 8-10 in Bethesda, Md., to collaborate, network, and exchange research ideas among grantees and staff from each sponsoring organization. The meeting provided strategic guidance and mentoring opportunities to support grantee investigations in the field of behavioral research and cancer control. Topics included survivorship; developing a research program; mentoring; leveraging resources and partnerships; and fostering transdisciplinary, translational, and dissemination research.

The NCI Small Grants Program for Behavioral Research in Cancer Control encourages investigators from a variety of academic, scientific, and public health disciplines to apply their skills to behavioral research in cancer prevention and control. For more information on the program, go to http://cancercontrol.cancer.gov/smallgrants/.

ENACCT to Fund Clinical Trials Education Activities
The Education Network to Advance Cancer Clinical Trials (ENACCT) has launched the Pilot Education Program (PEP) - a new funding opportunity for cancer clinical trials education efforts. With funding from the Lance Armstrong Foundation, ENACCT will award a total of $1,350,000 to three community-based partnerships to develop unique approaches to foster awareness about cancer treatment clinical trials, enhance their acceptability, and improve access to them.

The partnerships funded by PEP will receive ongoing technical assistance, evaluation, and training services provided by ENACCT staff. The preliminary application, as well as promotional material about the grant program, can be found at http://www.enacct.org/appguide. The application deadline is July 11, 2005.

World No Tobacco Day
The World Health Organization (WHO) has designated May 31 as World No Tobacco Day. Tobacco use causes approximately 5 million deaths worldwide each year. WHO has sponsored World No Tobacco Day to encourage countries to implement comprehensive programs to reduce tobacco use. This year's focus is on the role of health professionals in tobacco control. Studies indicate that smokers are more likely to quit smoking permanently if they receive physician assistance, behavioral counseling, and pharmacologic treatment. More information on WHO tobacco-control programs is available at www.who.int/tobacco.