E9-1867. Notice of Meeting: Secretary's Advisory Committee on Genetics, Health, and Society

Pursuant to Public Law 92-463, notice is hereby given of the eighteenth meeting of the Secretary's Advisory Committee on Genetics, Health, and Society (SACGHS), U.S. Public Health Service. The meeting will be held from 10 a.m. to approximately 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 12, 2009, and 8:30 a.m. to approximately 3 p.m. on Friday, March 13, 2009, at the Hubert H. Humphrey Building, 200 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20201. The meeting will be open to the public with attendance limited to space available. The meeting also will be Web cast.

At this meeting, the Committee will begin to explore issues related to genetics and the future of the health care system with the first in a series of roundtables focusing on perspectives of stakeholders in the payer community. Other agenda items include a session on developments related to informed consent for genomic data sharing, discussion of the Committee's next steps to address concerns related to consumer-initiated genomic services, and updates on Department of Health and Human Services and agency priorities.

As always, the Committee welcomes hearing from anyone wishing to provide public comment on any issue related to genetics, health and society. Individuals who would like to provide public comment should notify the SACGHS Executive Secretary, Ms. Sarah Carr, by telephone at 301-496-9838 or e-mail at [e-mail]. The SACGHS office is located at 6705 Rockledge Drive, Suite 750, Bethesda, MD 20892. Anyone planning to attend the meeting, who is in need of special assistance, such as sign language interpretation or other reasonable accommodations, is also asked to contact the Executive Secretary.

Under authority of 42 U.S.C. 217a, Section 222 of the Public Health Service Act, as amended, the Department of Health and Human Services established SACGHS to serve as a public forum for deliberations on the broad range of human health and societal issues raised by the development and use of genetic and genomic technologies and, as warranted, to provide advice on these issues. The draft meeting agenda and other information about SACGHS, including information about access to the Web cast, will be available at the following Web site: http://oba.od.nih.gov/​SACGHS/​sacghs_​home.html.

Dated: January 22, 2009.

Jennifer Spaeth,

Director, NIH Office of Federal Advisory Committee Policy.