[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 35 (Friday, February 21, 1997)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8033-8034]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-4259]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Public Health Service
National Institutes of Health


Office of Research on Women's Health; Notice of Meeting--``Beyond 
Hunt Valley: Research on Women's Health for the 21st Century''

    Notice is hereby given that the Office of Research on Women's 
Health, Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health, will 
convene a meeting on April 5, 6, and 7, 1997, at the Pyramid Crowne 
Plaza Hotel, Albuquerque, New Mexico. The purpose of the meeting is to 
update the current biomedical and behavioral research agenda for 
women's health, as presented in the Report of the National Institutes 
of Health: Opportunities for Research on Women's Health, a publication 
based on a conference held in Hunt Valley, Maryland, September 1991.
    The NIH/FAES is accredited by the Accreditation Council for 
Continuing Medical Education to sponsor continuing medical educations 
for physicians.
    The NIH/FAES designates this educational activity for a maximum of 
10 hours in category 1 credit towards the AMA Physician's Recognition 
Award. Each physician should claim only those hours of credit that he/
she actually spent in the educational activity.
    The first day, April 5 will be devoted to receiving public 
testimony from 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 from individuals representing 
organizations interested in biomedical and behavioral research on 
women's health issues. On April 6 and 7 concurrent working groups will 
discuss women's health research, with particular reference to 
differences among populations of women. The schedule for April 6 is 
8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and on April 7 the meeting will end 
approximately at 2:30 p.m. All sessions of the meeting are open to the 
public.
    Studies have shown that differences exist among women, in regards 
to health status and health outcomes. Also, some diseases, disorders, 
and conditions are more common among some populations of women than 
others. The reasons for these differences have not been delineated. 
Some studies have implicated socioeconomic status, access to health 
care, individual behavior and attitudes, provider attitudes, culture 
and race/ethnicity as different reasons. However, some differences 
cannot be explained totally on the basis of any of these examples.
    The purpose of this conference is to identify where differences 
exist in the diverse populations of women and to modify the NIH 
research agenda to better enable the identification of why these 
differences exist. In addition, strategies, based upon the research 
which can result in an improved health status and health outcome for 
all women, will be developed.
    Experts in the fields of basic and clinical science, practitioners 
interested in women's health, representatives of scientific, 
professional and women's health organizations, and women's health 
advocates will be asked to assess the current status of research in 
women's health, in these, and other areas, identify gaps in existing 
knowledge, and recommend scientific approaches and strategies to take 
advantage of promising opportunities for research on women's health.
    Open sessions will be devoted to identifying those factors which 
may influence health status and health outcomes including, but not 
limited to, racial, cultural and ethnic beliefs, attitudes, behavior 
environmental influences, biologic difference, effects of the changing 
health care environment, and socioeconomic status.
    Sessions that follow will be devoted to identifying major factors 
among populations of women within each life stage/age group and 
examples of diseases, disorders, and conditions where population 
differences most impact women's health, and recommend research (and 
public policy) strategies to address these gaps in knowledge.
    The Office of Research on Women's Health invites individuals 
representing organizations with an interest in research areas related 
to women's health to provide written and oral testimony on these topics 
and on career issues for women scientists.
    Due to time constraints, only one representative from each 
organization may present oral testimony, with presentations limited to 
10 minutes. A letter of intent to present such testimony should be sent 
by interested individuals and organizations to Ms. Nancy Teed, Houston 
Associates, 1010 Wayne Avenue, Suite 1200, Silver Spring, MD 20910. The 
date of receipt of the letter will establish the order of presentations 
at the April meeting.
    Presenters should send three (3) written copies of their testimony, 
including a brief description of their organization, to the above 
address no later than March 20, 1997.
    Individuals and organizations wishing to provide written statements 
only made send three (3) copies of their statements to the above 
address by March 20, 1997. All written testimony will be made available 
to the conferees prior to the April 6 meeting day. Comments and 
questions related to the April meeting should be addressed to Ms. Teed.
    This meeting is the second of three regional public hearings and 
scientific workshops of similar design to be convened by the Office of 
Research on Women's Health. At the conclusion of this series of 
meetings, the Office of Research on Women's Health will convene a 
national meeting to address the deliberations and recommendations from 
the regional public hearingsand scientific workshops for the purpose of 
developing a report of priorities for research on women's health for 
the 21st century.


[[Page 8034]]


    Dated: February 10, 1997.
Ruth L. Kirschstein,
Deputy Director, NIH.
[FR Doc. 97-4259 Filed 2-20-97; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-M