My mind is on web pages at the moment because we revise and update the ARP web page every July. This year one of my goals is to ensure that there is a substantially improved and more comprehensive representation of CRN on the ARP web page. If you are not familiar with the ARP web page, you can view it at: http://appliedresearch.cancer.gov/.

Sarah Greene and members of the Communications Committee will be working hard to create a CRN section of the web page that reflects the great accomplishments of this project. Please work with us to help create this product.

If you view the web page of the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences at http://cancercontrol.cancer.gov/, you can learn about several new NCI resources of interest to community health planners. One of the new links on this page assists local public health officials in cancer planning, (http://cancercontrolplanet.cancer.gov/); another, the release of SEER cancer data for 1975-2000, (http://seer.cancer.gov/csr/1975_2000/), and the third is an update summary of DCCPS research on cancer health disparities, (http://cancercontrol.cancer.gov/od/healthdisp.html).

- Martin Brown, NCI

Ed's Corner of the World
News from the CRN PI

CRN II is launched. In addition to interesting new projects, there are a couple of major new features that should enhance our work. We budgeted $200,000 to support pilot projects in the first year of CRN II. The money must be allocated in this grant year but not necessarily expended. The CRN Steering Committee developed the following strategy for distributing the funds.

Shortly, we will be sending a Request for Proposals to all 11 HMO site PIs to distribute to relevant folks in their programs, including close academic collaborators. Proposals should be 6-10 pages long with enough detail to make budget and review decisions. We expect that they will be due in November, with final decisions made in February.

The major criterion for funding will be the project's potential for generating a fundable R01. Other criteria will include: a preference for junior investigators; the extent to which the project leverages the unique features of the CRN; the scientific value for the dollar; and whether the project expands the scope of CRN research (new content, populations, methods). Each proposal will be reviewed by a member of the New Proposals Committee, a content specialist, a data/operations person, and a biostatistician. The CRN Steering Committee will make the final funding decisions. We sincerely hope that this pot of money expands the CRN's core group of investigators and research agenda. Stay tuned.

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