[Federal Register Volume 74, Number 71 (Wednesday, April 15, 2009)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17499-17500]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E9-8632]


-----------------------------------------------------------------------

DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention


Strategic Plan of the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Research Program

    The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the U.S. 
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announces an open meeting 
concerning chronic fatigue syndrome.
    Name: Strategic Plan of CDC's Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) 
Research Program.
    Times and Date: 1 p.m.-5 p.m., April 27, 2009.
    Place: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Global 
Communications Center, Building 19, Auditorium B2, 1600 Clifton Road 
NE., Atlanta, Georgia 30333.
    Status: Open to the public, limited only by the space available.
    Purpose: The purpose of the public meeting is to solicit input from 
interested parties on issues that CDC will consider as it develops a 
five-year strategic plan for its chronic fatigue syndrome research 
program. Input is sought only on the CFS strategic research plan, not 
on CDC's overall CFS program. As CDC is one of many institutions 
conducting research on chronic fatigue syndrome, the strategic plan 
will only address research that is within CDC's purview.
    Topics Include: The objective of the five-year strategic plan is to 
conduct public health research leading to the control and prevention of 
medically unexplained chronically fatiguing illnesses, in particular 
CFS. The agenda will focus on the goals and objectives of CDC's chronic 
fatigue syndrome research program in five major categories:
    1. Studies of Defined populations.
    2. Provider-based Patient Registries.
    3. In-hospital Clinical Studies.
    4. Laboratory Studies.
    5. Provider and Public Educational Intervention Research.
    The agenda does not include development of consensus positions, 
guidelines, or discussions or endorsements of specific commercial 
products. Agenda items are subject to change as priorities dictate. 
Members of the public wishing to make an oral statement during the 
meeting should limit their remarks to 5 minutes and should address the 
research agenda. Written comments and suggestions from the public on 
the research agenda are encouraged and may be submitted to the e-mail 
address listed below by April 22, 2009. While CDC will carefully 
consider the individual comments and opinions it receives, it will 
retain discretion in its decision-making process. A draft strategic 
plan will also be presented to the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Advisory 
Committee meeting held May 27-28, 2009.
    Background: CDC recently solicited and considered recommendations 
from an external review panel that evaluated the research and 
professional education components of the CFS research program. The 
panel's report summarizing the findings of the peer review has been 
published on the CDC CFS Web site at www.cdc.gov/cfs/pdf/cdc_cfs_research_program-external_review.pdf. In brief, the panel noted that: 
(1) The CDC team currently leads the world in both the breadth and 
depth of their research into CFS; (2) the efforts of CDC have 
highlighted the public health importance of CFS; (3) all current 
research projects address important issues; (4) CDC is uniquely 
positioned to conduct a broadly based research program derived from the 
population, a large-scale educational outreach program, particularly to 
healthcare professionals, and to provide expert Web-based resources for 
patients, their families and non-healthcare professionals; and (5) CDC 
is the best-placed institution to lead the establishment of research 
and educational networks, both nationally and internationally.
    The report included several valuable recommendations which CDC has 
begun to implement, starting with the development of a strategic plan 
to drive the program's research, prevention, and control activities for 
the next five years. This meeting will provide input to that strategic 
plan.
    Persons anticipating attending the meeting are requested to send 
written notification by April 22, 2009, including name, organization 
(if applicable), address, phone, fax, and e-mail addresses to the 
contact below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: [email protected].


[[Page 17500]]


    Dated: April 8, 2009.
Carlton Duncan,
Deputy Chief Operating Officer, Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention.
 [FR Doc. E9-8632 Filed 4-14-09; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3410-16-P