2013-24817. Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health; Notice of Meeting

Pursuant to section 10(a) of the Federal Advisory Committee Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. App.), notice is hereby given of a stakeholder meeting hosted by the NIH Scientific Management Review Board (SMRB). Presentations and discussions will address the optimal approaches to assessing the value of biomedical research supported by the NIH and will include input from stakeholders in biomedical research.

The NIH Reform Act of 2006 (Pub. L. 109-482) provides organizational authorities to HHS and NIH officials to: (1) Establish or abolish national research institutes; (2) reorganize the offices within the Office of the Director, NIH including adding, removing, or transferring the functions of such offices or establishing or terminating such offices; and (3) reorganize, divisions, centers, or other administrative units within an NIH national research institute or national center including adding, removing, or transferring the functions of such units, or establishing or terminating such units. The purpose of the SMRB is to advise appropriate HHS and NIH officials on the use of these organizational authorities and identify the reasons underlying the recommendations.

The meeting will be open to the public, with attendance limited to space available. Individuals who plan to attend and need special assistance, such as sign language interpretation or other reasonable accommodations, should notify the Contact Person listed below in advance of the meeting.

Name of Committee: Scientific Management Review Board (SMRB).

Date: October 24-25, 2013.

Time: 9 a.m. on October 24, 2013 to 12:30 p.m. on October 25, 2013.

Agenda: Presentations and discussions will include: 1) an update from the SMRB's Working Group on Approaches to Assess the Value of Biomedical Research Supported by NIH, and 2) presentations that explore approaches to assess the value of biomedical research supported by NIH. Time will be allotted on the agenda for public comment. Sign up for public comments will begin approximately at 7:30 a.m. on October 24, 2013, and will be restricted to one sign-in per person. In the event that time does not allow for all those interested to present oral comments, any interested person may file written comments with the committee by forwarding the statement to the Contact Person listed on this notice. The statement should include the name, address, telephone number and when applicable, the business or professional affiliation of the interested person.

Place: National Institutes of Health, Building 31, 6th Floor, Conference Room 6, 31 Center Drive, Bethesda, MD 20892.

Contact Person: Juanita Marner, Office of Science Policy, Office of the Director, NIH, National Institutes of Health, 6705 Rockledge Drive, Suite 750, Bethesda, MD 20892, [e-mail], [phone].

The meeting will also be webcast. The draft meeting agenda and other information about the SMRB, including information about access to the webcast, will be available at http://smrb.od.nih.gov.

In the interest of security, NIH has instituted stringent procedures for entrance onto the NIH campus. All visitor vehicles, including taxis, hotel, and airport shuttles will be inspected before being allowed on campus. Visitors will be asked to show one form of identification (for example, a government-issued photo ID, driver's license, or passport) and to state the purpose of their visit.

This notice is being published less than 15 days prior to the meeting due to the U.S. government shutdown.

(Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance Program Nos. 93.14, Intramural Research Training Award; 93.22, Clinical Research Loan Repayment Program for Individuals from Disadvantaged Backgrounds; 93.232, Loan Repayment Program for Research Generally; 93.39, Academic Research Enhancement Award; 93.936, NIH Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome Research Loan Repayment Program; 93.187, Undergraduate Scholarship Program for Individuals from Disadvantaged Backgrounds, National Institutes of Health, HHS)

Dated: October 18, 2013.

Melanie J. Gray,

Program Analyst, Office of Federal Advisory Committee Policy.