[Federal Register Volume 68, Number 152 (Thursday, August 7, 2003)]
[Notices]
[Pages 47080-47081]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 03-20121]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

National Institutes of Health


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 is September 15, 2003--all applications 
must be postmarked on or before September 15, 2003; the notification of 
selection and term start date will be in early spring 2004; and the 
first COPR meeting date for new members is April 29-30, 2004.

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) 650-8660, 
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://copr.nih.gov/application_process.shtm 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 completed application to NIH Director's 
Council of Public Representatives (COPR), c/o Palladian Partners, Inc., 
1010 Wayne Avenue, Suite 1200, Silver Spring, MD, 20910, telephone 
(301) 650-8660, fax (301) 650-8676, e-mail [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The NIH Director 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 many diverse communities that benefit from, 
and have an interest in, public input relevant to 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 issues 
of public importance and relevance to 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, but not always, three 
years.
    The minimum eligibility criteria are that the applicant must:
    [sbull] Have some interest in the work of the NIH (such as being a 
patient or family member of a patient; a care giver; a volunteer in the 
health or science arena; a scientist or student of science; or a health 
communicator, educator or professional in the medical field; but 
certainly not limited to these examples).
    [sbull] 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.
    [sbull] Commit to participating fully in activities of the COPR, 
including COPR meeting discussions and conference calls, outreach 
activities, and 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, 
such as public input, public participation, and public trust in the 
research enterprise. Also, members of the COPR will have to agree to be 
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://copr.nih.gov/application_process.shtm to access the 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 15, 2003,will be 
considered in the next

[[Page 47081]]

year's application cycle, which will end in September 2004.
    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 groups interested in 
the NIH. The NIH Director will take into consideration many varied 
factors, including age, gender, culture, and geography. We expect that 
selected candidates will be notified and processed in early spring 2004 
and that all applicants will be notified of the final selection by the 
end of April 2004.

    Dated: July 29, 2003.
Elias A. Zerhouni,
Director, National Institutes of Health.
[FR Doc. 03-20121 Filed 8-6-03; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-P