Featured Meetings and Events A calendar of scientific meetings and events sponsored by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is available at http://calendar.nih.gov.

Joint Research Fellowships in Cancer Available
NCI and the Health Research Board of Ireland have announced a call for applications for the Joint Research Fellowships in Cancer program.

Qualified applicants include postdoctoral researchers in Ireland, Northern Ireland, and the United States working on a defined research project of mutual interest in any cancer-related discipline. Each potential research fellow must apply as part of a team, which should include an Irish principal investigator (PI) and a U.S. PI who is an NCI intramural researcher or NCI grantee.

Fellowships are awarded on a full-time basis over 2 years. Successful applicants will have the opportunity to spend 1 year with an Irish PI and 1 year with a U.S. PI. Up to five fellowships with a start date in 2007 will be awarded. Applicants must be eligible for an appropriate visa.

For more information, visit http://www.hrb.ie/display_content.php?page_id=165 and http://www.allirelandnci.org.

The deadline for this call for applications is September 1, 2006.

Coffee, Tea, & Chats at Mark O. Hatfield Clinical Research Center
Parents and families are welcome to participate in informal chats about the challenges they face while having a child in treatment at NIH's Mark O. Hatfield Clinical Research Center.

Begun by Dr. Lori Wiener of NCI's Pediatric Oncology Branch in September 2005, the chats cover a variety of topics requested by parents, such as creatively managing pain; helping other at-home siblings; nutrition; and dealing with fear, depression, and body image.

In addition to chats in English, some are conducted in Spanish, and others are open forums for families from Spanish-speaking countries.

The chats are held twice a week from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. in 1-NW Pediatric Unit Family Room. A calendar of chats can be found outside of the clinic and 1-NW.

For additional information, please contact Dr. Wiener at 301-451-9148.

IARC Welcomes India and Korea
At its meeting on May 18, the Governing Council of the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) officially greeted the Republic of India and the Republic of Korea as its 17th and 18th Participating States.

India has a long tradition in the study of cancer, and has recently made significant investments in cancer research and biotechnology. Because the population of India is growing and aging, even if the risk of cancer remains constant, there is potential for a large increase in cancer incidence. Thus, effective cancer prevention is currently a top priority.

The Republic of Korea has experienced rapid economic and social development, and cancer research and treatment have evolved rapidly. The National Cancer Centre in Seoul has excellent clinicians and researchers, and the country continues to make important investments in cancer.