Cancers

• Understanding NCI: Toll-Free Teleconference on Patient Navigator Program
  When: March 7, 2007
  Where: Nationwide
  Institute: National Cancer Institute (NCI)

  The NCI Office of Liaison Activities (OLA) is pleased to offer Understanding NCI, a monthly teleconference series on cross-cutting issues in cancer research. Members of cancer advocacy organizations, survivors, family, and friends are encouraged to participate in each call to learn more about NCI's important cancer research programs and how advocates are involved. Callers will have the opportunity to ask questions of panel members.
  
  More

  Next Steps
  All you need to participate is a phone. No registration is required, and participation is free. The number for the live call-in is (800) 857-6584, and the pass code is PNP.
  
  A playback of the entire session will be available toll-free at (800) 873-2035 one hour after the call ends and will be accessible until April 7, 2007.
  
  For more information, contact OLA at liaison@od.nci.nih.gov or (301) 594-3194.  

Community Outreach

• THE EYE SITE Exhibit on Low Vision Continues to Tour the Country
  When: March 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.
  
  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.  

• VISION Traveling Exhibit on Display in Hagerstown, MD
  When: March 2007
  Where: Hagerstown, MD
  Institute: National Eye Institute (NEI)

  A vision-related traveling exhibit is giving people in the Hagerstown, Maryland, area an opportunity to learn how the eye and brain work together to create vision. Visitors to the Discovery Station at Hagerstown can also learn how researchers are developing ways to protect our sight from visual disorders and diseases. The 2,000-square-foot exhibit, called VISION, includes 10 interactive modules developed by the Exploratorium in San Francisco.
  
  Targeted at viewers from age 8 to 80, the exhibit has toured since 1993, visiting science museums in 33 cities, and has been seen by more than 6 million people. VISION was developed as part of NEI's 25th anniversary celebration.
  

  Next Steps
  Members of the public can visit the exhibit from January 30, 2006, through June 30, 2007 at the Discovery Station at Hagerstown. Museum hours and directions are available on the Discovery Station at Hagerstown Web site (www.discoverystation.org/about.html).
  
  For information about prior stops on the tour, visit the NEI Web site at www.nei.nih.gov/education/visionexhibit/index.asp.
   

• Attend a Meeting of the NIH Director’s Council of Public Representatives
  When: April 20, 2007
  Where: NIH Campus, Building 31, C Wing, 6th Floor, Conference Room 6C06, Bethesda, MD
  Institute: Office of the Director (OD)

  The NIH Director’s Council of Public Representatives (COPR) is a federal advisory committee made up of members of the public who advise the NIH Director on issues related to:
  

  • Public input and participation in NIH research activities.
    
    
  • Public input and participation in the NIH research priority-setting process.
    
    
  • NIH outreach programs and efforts.
  
  The COPR is made up of 21 people from across the country chosen to represent the public through an open application process. They are patients, family members of patients, health care professionals, scientists, health and science communicators, and educators.
  
  More

  Next Steps
  You can attend the spring COPR meeting at no cost. 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.
  
  If you wish to speak during the public comment portion of the meeting, please contact Jennifer E. Gorman by e-mail at gormanj@od.nih.gov to learn about the sign-up and submission process. Approval to present comments at the COPR meeting will be given on a first-come, first-served basis.
  
  If you’re interested in representing your community on the 2008 NIH Director’s Council, please subscribe to the COPR e-mail updates list at http://copr.nih.gov/subscribe.asp. List members will be notified when the application process opens.  

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, researchers are examining risk behaviors associated with 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. More

  Next Steps
  To view the agenda or register for Drug Abuse and Risky Behaviors: The Evolving Dynamics of HIV/AIDS, go to http://conferences.masimax.com/riskybehaviors.  

Eyes and Vision

• THE EYE SITE Exhibit on Low Vision Continues to Tour the Country
  When: March 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.
  
  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.  

• VISION Traveling Exhibit on Display in Hagerstown, MD
  When: March 2007
  Where: Hagerstown, MD
  Institute: National Eye Institute (NEI)

  A vision-related traveling exhibit is giving people in the Hagerstown, Maryland, area an opportunity to learn how the eye and brain work together to create vision. Visitors to the Discovery Station at Hagerstown can also learn how researchers are developing ways to protect our sight from visual disorders and diseases. The 2,000-square-foot exhibit, called VISION, includes 10 interactive modules developed by the Exploratorium in San Francisco.
  
  Targeted at viewers from age 8 to 80, the exhibit has toured since 1993, visiting science museums in 33 cities, and has been seen by more than 6 million people. VISION was developed as part of NEI's 25th anniversary celebration.
  

  Next Steps
  Members of the public can visit the exhibit from January 30, 2006, through June 30, 2007 at the Discovery Station at Hagerstown. Museum hours and directions are available on the Discovery Station at Hagerstown Web site (www.discoverystation.org/about.html).
  
  For information about prior stops on the tour, visit the NEI Web site at www.nei.nih.gov/education/visionexhibit/index.asp.
   

General Health

• Integrative Health: A Pathway Approach
  When: June 6, 2007
  Where: NIH Campus, Wilson Hall, Building One, 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.
  
  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.
   

Genetics/Birth Defects

• Learn About Careers in Genetics on National DNA Day
  When: April 25, 2007
  Where: Nationwide
  Institute: National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)

  Genetics is a field with vast implications for human health—especially with the wealth of information now available through genomics—and professionals who work in the field include medical doctors, molecular biologists, and genetic counselors. Each year, National DNA Day brings genetics professionals into classrooms around the country, opening a view of this exciting science before young people and acquainting them with its many career possibilities.
  
  On April 25, the fifth annual National DNA Day, dozens of NHGRI professionals will fan out across the nation as “DNA Day Ambassadors,” visiting high school classrooms and sharing their personal experiences in this revolutionary science. This year, NHGRI scientists will concentrate their efforts in North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.
  
  More

  Next Steps
  The homepage for National DNA Day is www.genome.gov/DNAday. Visit this site to:
  

  • Access video podcasts and webcasts of past National DNA Day presentations by NHGRI researchers.
    
    
  • Participate in the live online chat on April 25 between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. EST.
    
    
  • Read a transcript of the chat if you miss the live event.
    
    
  • Find a wealth of new educational materials.
    
    
  • Look at archived materials from previous years.
  
  If you would like a DNA Day Ambassador to visit your classroom in 2008 or to learn more about how you can participate, e-mail DNAday@mail.nih.gov.  

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