[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 144 (Friday, July 26, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 48922-48923]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-18943]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

National Institutes of Health


Office of the Director; Notice of Call for Applications for the 
Director's Council of Public Representatives

AGENCY: National Institutes of Health, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Federal 
government's primary agency for supporting and conducting medical 
research leading to the improvement in the nation's health, has 
established a national advisory council--the Director's Council of 
Public Representatives (COPR). The Chair of the COPR is the Director of 
the NIH. This notice describes the process for the selection of new 
members of the COPR that the NIH will use, as current members complete 
their terms.

DATES: The application deadline for the COPR is September 16, 2002--all 
applications must be postmarked on or before September 16, 2002; the 
notification of selection date is January 2003; the term start date is 
April 1, 2003; and the first COPR meeting date

[[Page 48923]]

for new members is April 20 and 21, 2003.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: NIH Director's Council of Public 
Representatives (COPR), c/o Palladian Partners, Inc., 1010 Wayne 
Avenue, Suite 1200, Silver Spring, MD, 20910, telephone (301) 650-8600, 
fax (301) 650-8676, e-mail [email protected]. If you are 
interested in serving as a member of the COPR, please contact Palladian 
Partners, Inc., to have an application mailed to you or go on-line to 
http://public-council.nih.gov/COPRapplication.asp to access the COPR 
application instructions. If you have questions about your application 
or the submission process, please feel free to contact the staff 
working on this project by mail, telephone, fax, or e-mail, as 
indicated in the above information.

ADDRESSES: Please mail your application to NIH Director's Council of 
Public Representatives (COPR), c/o Palladin Partners, Inc., 1010 Wayne 
Avenue, Suite 1200, Silver Spring, MD, 20910, telephone (301) 650-8660, 
fax (301) 650-8676, e-mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Director of the NIH created the COPR in 
1999 as an important forum for information exchange between the public 
and the NIH at the highest level. The COPR consists of up to 21 
individuals who are selected from among the way diverse communities 
that benefit from, and have an interest in, NIH research, programs, and 
activities. The COPR is an important avenue for representatives of the 
public to advise the NIH Director on the viewpoints, input, and 
feedback of the broader public regarding emerging health and science 
priorities identified by the NIH Director and/or the COPR. COPR members 
also serve as NIH ambassadors by taking information from the NIH back 
to the broader public. COPR terms are typically three years.
    The minimum eligibility criteria are that the applicant must:
     Have some interest in the work of the NIH (such as being a 
patient or family member of a patient; a care giver; or a volunteer in 
the health or science arena; a scientist or student of science; a 
health communicator, educator or professional in the medical field, but 
certainly not limited to these examples).
     Be in a position (formally or informally) to communicate 
regularly with the broader public or segments of the public about the 
activities of the COPR and the NIH.
     Commit to participating fully in activities of the COPR, 
including COPR meeting discussions and conference calls, outreach 
activities, and subcommittee and/or/working group activities that will 
take time in addition to COPR meeting attendance twice a year.
    In addition, COPR members--while participating in COPR activities--
will have to agree to subordinate disease-specific or program-specific 
interests to broader, crosscutting matters of importance to the NIH in 
addition to being responsive to special charges from the NIH Director 
in priority issue areas. COPR members must also agree to represent as 
broad a ``public viewpoint'' as possible and to at least keep the 
spirit of this goal at the forefront during all COPR discussions and 
activities.
    Please contact Palladian Partners, Inc., to have an application 
mailed to you or go on-line to http://public-council.nih.gov/COPRapplication.asp to access to COPR application instructions. The NIH 
Director's COPR staff is located in the Office of Communications and 
Public Liaison, Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health. 
Application packages postmarked after September 16, 2002 will be 
considered in the next year's application cycle, which will end in 
September 2003.
    After applications are screened for completeness, they will be 
reviewed and scored by external reviewers who are familiar with the 
responsibilities of the COPR. The NIH Director will make the final 
selection of candidates with the goal of creating a Council that 
reflects the breadth and diversity of the public's interest in the NIH, 
and will take into consideration many varied factors, including age, 
gender, culture, and geography. We expect that candidates will be 
selected in January 2003.
    Thank you for your interest in the COPR. We look forward to 
receiving your application packet.

    Dated: July 18, 2002.
John Burklow,
Acting Associate Director for Communications, NIH.
[FR Doc. 02-18943 Filed 7-25-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-M