96-23008. Notice of Meeting

[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 176 (Tuesday, September 10, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Page 47757]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-23008]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Notice of Meeting

    Notice is hereby given of the open, public hearing of the National 
Institutes of Health-Department of Energy Joint Working Group on the 
Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications of Human Genome Research (ELSI 
Working Group) Evaluation Committee, on Wednesday, October 23, 1996, 
9:00 am to noon at Hotel Sofitel Chicago, 5550 N. River Road, Rosemont, 
Illinois 60018-5194; TEL: [phone].
    Contact Person: Bettie Graham, Ph.D., NIH/NCHGR Bldg. 38A, Rm. 614, 
Bethesda, MD 20892; [phone].
    The ELSI Working Group Evaluation Committee has been charged with 
evaluation of the ELSO activities and role of external advisors in the 
ELSO program. The Committee will assess how, in the near term, it would 
be best to structure input on ELSI issues raised by and as a 
consequence of the Human Genome Project. The Committee will also assess 
how, in the longer term, it would be best to structure input on ELSI 
issues raised more generally by research involving human genetics. The 
Committee is seeking public comments on the following questions:

1. What role should external advisors (currently the ELSI Working 
Group) play in the ELSI program?
2. How should the external ELSI advisors relate to other government and 
private groups studying these issues?
3. How should the external ELSI advisors relate to other institutes, 
programs, and entities at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and 
Department of Energy (DOE) with a shared research interest?
4. To whom at the NIH and the DOE should the external advisors report?
5. What procedures should be established for appointment of members, 
priority setting, budget, staffing, and policy development?
6. What changes, if any, will be necessary in the ELSI program as the 
focus of research shifts away from genomics?

    Individuals or representatives of organizations wishing to make an 
oral presentation, of no more than five minutes, to the ELSI Working 
Group Evaluation Committee, on Wednesday, October 23, should submit 
their name, affiliation, address, telephone number, and summary of 
their remarks to Dr. Graham at the above address by October 14. Those 
making oral comments to the Committee will be accommodated to the 
extent possible during the time allotted for oral public comments. 
Written comments will be accepted up to October 14.
    Individuals who plan to attend and need special assistance, such as 
sign language interpretation or other reasonable accommodations, should 
contact Dr. Graham two weeks in advance of the meeting.
    Individuals who are unable to attend the public meeting, but who 
would like to submit comments may do so by writing to Mark A. 
Rothstein, Co-Chair, ELSI Working Group Evaluation Committee, Health 
Law and Policy Institute, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204-6381 
or to the Committee by e-mail at: [email protected],bio.net.

    Dated: September 4, 1996.
Margery G. Grubb,
Senior Committee Management Specialsit, NIH.
[FR Doc. 96-23008 Filed 9-9-96; 8:45 am]
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