[Federal Register: June 10, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 112)]
[Notices]               
[Page 32587]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr10jn04-107]                         

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

 
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health; Public 
Meeting

    The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) 
of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announces the 
following public meeting and request for information:

    Name: Public Meeting to Seek Input on Gaps in Chronic 
Lymphocytic Leukemia Radiogenicity Research.
    Time and Date: 9 a.m.-12 noon, July 21, 2004.
    Place: Best Western Skyline Inn, 10 I Street, SW., Washington, 
DC 20024.
    Status: Forum will include scientists and representatives from 
various government agencies, industry, labor, and other 
stakeholders, and is open to the public, limited only by the space 
available. The meeting room accommodates up to 100 people. Due to 
limited space, notification of intent to attend the meeting should 
be made with Patty Gudlewski, no later than Friday, July 16, 2004. 
Ms. Gudlewski can be reached by telephone at 513-841-4419, or by e-
mail at pkg1@cdc.gov. Access to the meeting will be accommodated on 
a first-come basis.
    Purpose: To discuss possible scientific research strategies to 
evaluate any relationship between exposure to ionizing radiation and 
chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Current scientific opinion, 
based largely on epidemiological data, holds that the incidence of 
CLL is not related to exposure to ionizing radiation. The U.S. 
Congress directed NIOSH to conduct epidemiological research and 
other activities to establish the scientific link between radiation 
exposure and the occurrence of CLL.
    The public is invited to attend and will have an opportunity to 
provide limited comments. Written comments may be submitted to the 
address listed below by August 16, 2004, so that they may be 
considered by NIOSH in planning its research priorities.
    Summary: CLL is the most common adult leukemia in the Western 
world, but its etiology is largely unknown. Exposures to some 
herbicides have been implicated in epidemiologic studies. Yet other 
studies to date largely have shown no evidence of an association 
between external ionizing radiation and CLL; however, a number of 
uncertainties remain and additional studies may be informative. 
Recent laboratory studies have identified sub-types of CLL and at 
least one familial form of B-cell CLL has been identified. In 
addition, new technologies including interphase fluorescence in situ 
hybridization, expression microarrays and flow cytometric analysis 
provide diagnostic and prognostic indicators of disease. This 
meeting will assist in identifying gaps in existing research needed 
to address the radiogenicity of CLL.
    Addresses: Comments should be submitted to David F. Utterback, 
4676 Columbia Parkway, M/S R-44, Cincinnati, Ohio 45226, or by e-
mail to dutterback@cdc.gov. Any attachments should be formatted in 
Microsoft Word.
    All information received in response to this notice will be 
available for public examination and copying.
    The Director, Management Analysis and Services Office has been 
delegated the authority to sign Federal Register notices pertaining 
to announcements of meetings and other committee management 
activities, for both CDC and the Agency for Toxic Substances and 
Disease Registry.

    Dated: June 4, 2004.
Alvin Hall,
Director, Management Analysis and Services Office, Centers for Disease 
Control and Prevention.
[FR Doc. 04-13134 Filed 6-9-04; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 4163-19-P