Cancers

• Understanding NCI: Toll-Free Teleconference on the Intramural Clinical Trials Program
  When: May 17, 2007
  Where: Nationwide
  Institute: National Cancer Institute (NCI)

  NCI’s Office of Liaison Activities (OLA) continues its Understanding NCI teleconference series with the topic “NCI’s Intramural Clinical Trial Program: A National Resource for Patients.”
  
  The featured speaker is Lee J. Helman, scientific director of clinical research for NCI’s Center for Cancer Research, who will explain the general process of clinical trials at NCI and where to get information on how to take part in these trials. More

  Next Steps
  The teleconference can be accessed toll-free within the United States at 1 (800) 857-6584; the passcode is CCR. Toll-free playback will be available through June 17 at 1 (866) 442-1776. To view the series schedule, visit http://ola.cancer.gov/activities/teleconferences.
  
  For information on NCI’s Center for Cancer Research, visit http://ccr.nci.nih.gov.
  
  For more information on Understanding NCI, contact OLA at (301) 594-3194 or liaison@od.nci.gov.  

Community Outreach

• THE EYE SITE Exhibit on Low Vision Continues to Tour the Country
  When: May 2007
  Where: Nationwide
  Institute: National Eye Institute (NEI)

  To help people understand low vision (vision problems that interfere with a person’s ability to perform everyday activities) and to explain what people with vision loss can do to stay independent, NEI developed THE EYE SITE: A Traveling Exhibit on Low Vision for Shopping Centers. The exhibit will visit malls and other accessible venues during 2007 in Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, and West Virginia.
  
  Two identical exhibits have been on tour since 2001. By the end of 2007, the exhibits will have traveled to 109 malls and other venues in 39 states and the District of Columbia. Since THE EYE SITE tour was launched, NEI has:

  • Given more than 41 million people the opportunity to visit the exhibit and learn about low vision.
    
    
  • Distributed more than 65,000 publications.
    
    
  • Worked with more than 90 vision-related organizations to offer more than 250 public events.

  2007 TOUR SCHEDULE
  April 21–May 17	Central Mall, Lawton, OK
  May 5–May 31	Hickory Ridge Mall, Memphis, TN
  May 26–June 21	Lloyd Center, Portland, OR
  June 2–June 28	Charleston Town Center, Charleston, WV
  June 23–July 12	Lancaster Mall, Salem, OR
  June 30–July 26	Meadowbrook Mall, Bridgeport, WV
  July 14–August 9	Valley River Center, Eugene, OR
  July 28–August 23	Mercer Mall, Bluefield, WV

  More

  Next Steps
  Members of the public can visit the exhibit during regular business hours at any location on the tour. For more information, visit THE EYE SITE Web site at www.nei.nih.gov/nehep/eyesite.  

Drug Abuse

• Drug Abuse and Risky Behaviors: The Evolving Dynamics of HIV/AIDS
  When: May 8–9, 2007
  Where: NIH Campus, Natcher Conference Center, Bethesda, MD
  Institute: National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

  Drug abuse and addiction continue to fuel the spread of HIV/AIDS in the United States and abroad. To address this significant public health threat, research is examining every aspect of HIV/AIDS, drug abuse, and addiction, including risk behaviors associated with both injection and non-injection drug abuse, how drugs of abuse alter brain function and impair decision making, and HIV prevention and treatment strategies for diverse groups.
  
  This NIDA meeting will provide a broad understanding of the multiple ways that drug abuse and addiction affect HIV/AIDS and how research can inform public health policy. Presentations will focus on the successes, research challenges, and opportunities for addressing the evolving HIV/AIDS pandemic. Attendees will be drawn from the research community, public health organizations, federal agencies, and drug abuse and HIV/AIDS organizations.
  
  Topics that will be covered include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • How drugs of abuse alter brain function, leading to impaired decision making and risky behaviors, which in turn can facilitate the acquisition and transmission of HIV;
    
    
  • How and to what extent substance abuse influences sexual risk behaviors;
    
    
  • How substance abuse affects HIV/AIDS risk in diverse populations (e.g., adolescents, minorities, those involved with the criminal justice system); and
    
    
  • How testing and counseling can be incorporated as a key component of HIV prevention strategies for drug-abusing populations.
  More

  Next Steps
  For agenda and registration information, visit http://conferences.masimax.com/riskybehaviors.  

Eyes and Vision

• THE EYE SITE Exhibit on Low Vision Continues to Tour the Country
  When: May 2007
  Where: Nationwide
  Institute: National Eye Institute (NEI)

  To help people understand low vision (vision problems that interfere with a person’s ability to perform everyday activities) and to explain what people with vision loss can do to stay independent, NEI developed THE EYE SITE: A Traveling Exhibit on Low Vision for Shopping Centers. The exhibit will visit malls and other accessible venues during 2007 in Oklahoma, Oregon, Tennessee, and West Virginia.
  
  Two identical exhibits have been on tour since 2001. By the end of 2007, the exhibits will have traveled to 109 malls and other venues in 39 states and the District of Columbia. Since THE EYE SITE tour was launched, NEI has:

  • Given more than 41 million people the opportunity to visit the exhibit and learn about low vision.
    
    
  • Distributed more than 65,000 publications.
    
    
  • Worked with more than 90 vision-related organizations to offer more than 250 public events.

  2007 TOUR SCHEDULE
  April 21–May 17	Central Mall, Lawton, OK
  May 5–May 31	Hickory Ridge Mall, Memphis, TN
  May 26–June 21	Lloyd Center, Portland, OR
  June 2–June 28	Charleston Town Center, Charleston, WV
  June 23–July 12	Lancaster Mall, Salem, OR
  June 30–July 26	Meadowbrook Mall, Bridgeport, WV
  July 14–August 9	Valley River Center, Eugene, OR
  July 28–August 23	Mercer Mall, Bluefield, WV

  More

  Next Steps
  Members of the public can visit the exhibit during regular business hours at any location on the tour. For more information, visit THE EYE SITE Web site at www.nei.nih.gov/nehep/eyesite.  

General Health

• Integrative Health: A Pathway Approach
  When: June 6, 2007
  Where: NIH Campus, Wilson Hall, Building 1, Bethesda, MD
  Institute: Office of the Director (OD)

  What is “health”? Is it merely the absence of disease or illness, or is it an objective state of well-being that can be measured, quantified, and linked to combinations of biomarker responses? Collaborators Carol A. Ryff and Burton H. Singer have developed an approach that takes into account socioeconomic factors, psychological outlooks, social connections, and other such “non-biological” considerations in a fully integrative study of human health.
  
  Because of their work, focused at the interface between social and biological sciences, the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research has jointly awarded them the “Second Matilda White Riley Lecture in the Behavioral and Social Sciences.” This annual lecture is named after Dr. Riley, who served as associate director for behavioral and social research at the National Institute on Aging and chaired several landmark committees on health and behavior. In their lecture, Drs. Ryff and Singer will focus on the conceptual and empirical challenges to providing an integrative social and biological portrait of positive health. More

  Next Steps
  You do not need to register for this free lecture. Visitors to the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland, should bring a photo ID and allow additional time for security procedures. Call (301) 594-6677 for more information, or visit www.nih.gov/about/visitor/index.htm to find the best way to travel and where to get your visitor badge.
  
  You can learn more about this lecture or the series by contacting Ronald Abeles at (301) 496-7859 or abeles@nih.gov.  

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