(ATN) NIH Research Evaluation: Last Meeting on Clinical Trials November 13, Public Comment Allowed

(ATN) NIH Research Evaluation: Last Meeting on Clinical Trials November 13, Public Comment Allowed

AIDS TREATMENT NEWS #234, November 3, 1995
John S. James

The Office of AIDS Research (OAR) -- which recently was given budgetary authority over the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) AIDS research program, which is by far the world's largest -- is finishing up a one-year process of evaluating AIDS research at NIH. Due to a closed, secretive atmosphere around this evaluation process, most of the AIDS community has not been informed of what is going on, or able to give input. Protests by ACT UP/New York and ACT UP/Philadelphia against the closed process -- including three arrests -- led to some increase in openness, including the appointment of two community representatives. (Two other community representatives, both active in Treatment Action Group (TAG), were on the panel from the beginning.) The final report is due in January.

The last meeting of the Area Review Panel on Clinical Trials (one of six Area Review Panels of the NIH AIDS Research Program Evaluation Working Group) will be held November 13 and 14 at the Chevy Chase Holiday Inn, 5520 Wisconsin Avenue, Chevy Chase, Maryland. Only the morning of November 13, from 8:00 a.m. to noon, will be open to the public. Individuals and organizational representatives (no more than one from each organization) may be able to speak for five minutes; however, the deadline for making prior arrangements to speak has passed. Written statements will be accepted; but the deadline for having them distributed in advance to the panelists has passed. Since both deadlines were October 30 and the meeting was announced in the FEDERAL REGISTER (page 53793) on October 17, there was little time to get the word out. Not surprisingly, few people signed up.

To submit written comments, send three typewritten copies, including a brief description of your organization, to the attention of Dr. Judith Feinberg, Office of AIDS Research, NIH, 31 Center Drive, MSC 2340, Building 31, Room 5C08, Bethesda, MD 20892-2340, phone 301/496-0358, fax 301/402- 8638. "Comments should be confined to statements related to the current status of NIH AIDS research in the areas of therapeutic clinical trials and recommendations for consideration by the panel in assessing and reviewing the relevant research in these areas."

If you want to speak at the meeting, those who have not made any advance arrangements may be permitted to do so at the end of the meeting, if there is time and the chairperson agrees. We suggest contacting OAR in advance, even though the deadline has passed, as preferable to just showing up. To do so, send a letter of intent and three typewritten copies of the presentation, along with a brief description of the organization represented, to Dr. Feinberg at the above address.

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