[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 151 (Friday, August 5, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Page 47596]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-20004]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

National Institutes of Health


Notice of Scientific Summit; The Science of Compassion--Future 
Directions in End-of-Life and Palliative Care

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that the National Institute of Nursing 
Research (NINR), National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of 
Health and Human Services, will convene a scientific summit titled 
``The Science of Compassion--Future Directions in End-of-Life and 
Palliative Care.'' The summit is cosponsored by the NIH Office of Rare 
Diseases Research, the NIH Office of Research on Women's Health, the 
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, the 
National Institute on Aging, and the NIH Clinical Center Department of 
Bioethics. Portions of the event are supported by the Foundation for 
the National Institutes of Health and Pfizer.

DATES: The summit will begin Wednesday evening, August 10, 2011, 7 p.m. 
to 9 p.m. and continue August 11-12.

ADDRESSES: The Summit will be held at the Hyatt Regency in Bethesda, 
Maryland, located at One Bethesda Metro Center (7400 Wisconsin Avenue), 
Bethesda, Maryland 20814.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: To register for the summit, please 
visit http://www.ninr.nih.gov/ResearchAndFunding/scienceofcompassion.htm. For additional information, please contact Ms. 
Crystal Esler, NINR, at [email protected] or 301-496-9629.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Increasing numbers of Americans live for 
years with serious, advanced illness and then later die from the 
consequences of these debilitating conditions. There is an urgent need 
to improve the quality of life for those with life-limiting conditions 
through increased use of evidence-based end-of-life and palliative care 
(EOL PC) services. The objectives of this summit are to examine the 
current status of EOL PC research and practice; propose strategies to 
overcome barriers and ensure scientific and methodologic rigor in EOL 
PC research; delineate new action items that galvanize progress in 
these vital areas of science; and envision and map pathways to ensure a 
future rich with EOL PC scientific endeavor and achievements. This 
summit, held in conjunction with NINR's commemoration of its 25th 
Anniversary, will bring together scientists, EOL PC health 
professionals, educators, members of professional organizations, and 
individuals with life-limiting illnesses, as well as their caregivers.
    The summit will begin with a Town Hall discussion on the evening of 
August 10 on the ethics of science at the end-of-life. On August 11-12, 
the summit will feature keynote presentations, three plenary 
discussions, and break-out sessions. Leading experts from 
interdisciplinary fields of research will address a range of EOL PC 
issues. A special lunch-hour presentation on August 11 will feature a 
dialogue on parents and clinicians as partners in research. The summit 
will conclude at 2 p.m. on August 12.

    Dated: August 1, 2011.
Lawrence A. Tabak,
Deputy Director, National Institutes of Health.
[FR Doc. 2011-20004 Filed 8-4-11; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-P