Two NCI Nurses Selected as AAN Fellows
Two NCI nurses, Kathleen Calzone and Dr. Ann O'Mara, were among 55 nurse leaders who will be inducted as Fellows of the American Academy of Nursing at the Academy's annual meeting in November. Ms. Calzone is with the Clinical Cancer Genetics Branch of CCR and Dr. O'Mara is with the Community Oncology and Prevention Trials Research Group in the Division of Cancer Prevention.

Criteria for selection to the Academy include evidence of significant contributions to nursing and health care, and selection is based, in part, on the extent to which nominees' nursing careers influence health policies for the benefit of all Americans. 

President's Cancer Panel Examines Lifestyles
During 2006 and 2007, the President's Cancer Panel will hold a series of meetings on "Promoting Healthy Lifestyles to Reduce the Risk of Cancer." The series will begin on September 11 in Minneapolis, where the Panel will hear testimony from invited participants and the public on how obesity, physical activity, and nutrition affect cancer risk. The Panel will explore both current research and existing knowledge gaps in these areas, as well as programs relevant to healthy lifestyles and cancer risk reduction.

Meetings of the President's Cancer Panel are free, open to the public, and require no registration. For more information on these meetings or the Panel itself, go to http://pcp.cancer.gov or contact Karen Parker at 301-452-9462 or klparker@mail.nih.gov.

NIH to Host Conference on Health Disparities
The NIH Office of Behavioral and Social Research will hold a conference, "Understanding and Reducing Disparities in Health: Behavioral and Social Sciences Research Contributions," on October 23-24 on the NIH campus.

The conference will focus on three broad areas influencing health disparities: policy, prevention, and health care. It will emphasize basic research on the behavioral, social, and biomedical pathways giving rise to disparities in health, as well as applied research on the development, testing, and delivery of interventions to reduce disparities in these three areas.

The agenda and registration information are available at http://obssr.od.nih.gov/HealthDisparities/index.html.

Surgeon General's Term Ends
Last week, Surgeon General Dr. Richard H. Carmona left his post upon completion of his 4-year term. In late June, Dr. Carmona issued a comprehensive scientific report that concluded there is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke. This finding is a major public health concern since nearly half of all nonsmoking Americans are still regularly exposed to secondhand smoke.

The report, The Health Consequences of Involuntary Exposure to Tobacco Smoke: A Report of the Surgeon General, found that even brief secondhand smoke exposure can cause immediate harm to people's health. The report noted that the only way to fully protect nonsmokers from the dangerous chemicals in secondhand smoke is to eliminate smoking indoors.