Office of the Secretary, HHS.
Notice of public meeting.
Authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), the Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research will help coordinate research and guide investments in comparative effectiveness research funded by the Recovery Act. The Coordinating Council is holding this meeting to hear from the public about their views on the Council's activities.
The meeting, which is the second of three public meetings that the Coordinating Council expects to convene, will be held on Wednesday, May 13, 2009, from 2:30 p.m.–5:30 p.m. CDT.
The meeting will be held at the University of Illinois at Chicago Forum, 725 W. Roosevelt Rd., (MC 126) Chicago, IL 60608. In addition, the meeting will be Web cast and individuals may also participate by audioconference.
Patrick Conway, Office of the Secretary, HHS, Telephone: 202–690–7858; E-mail:
The Coordinating Council will assist the agencies of the Federal Government, including HHS, Departments of Veterans Affairs and Defense, as well as others, to coordinate comparative effectiveness and related health services research. The Coordinating Council also will provide input on priorities for the $400 million fund in the Recovery Act that the Secretary will allocate to advance this type of research.
The Coordinating Council will not recommend clinical guidelines for payment, coverage or treatment. The Coordinating Council will consider the needs of populations served by Federal programs and opportunities to build and expand on current investments and priorities.
Oral statements, as well as written statements submitted for the Coordinating Council's consideration, should address the following kinds of questions:
• What types of investments in infrastructure for comparative effectiveness research should the Coordinating Council consider?
• What criteria should the Coordinating Council consider when evaluating different investment options?
• What Federal government activities in the area of comparative effectiveness research should the Coordinating Council focus its attention on?
• How can the Coordinating Council best foster integration of these activities across the programs managed by the Departments of Health and Human Services, Defense, and Veterans Affairs?
• What steps should the Coordinating Council consider to help ensure that public- and private-sector efforts in the area of comparative effectiveness research are mutually supportive?
• What information on the Coordinating Council's activities would be most useful?
The Office of the Secretary requests that interested persons register to participate and indicate (a) whether they will attend in person, view the Coordinating Council's meeting over the Internet, or listen by audioconference; (b) whether they are nominating themselves to give a 3-minute oral statement; and/or, (c) if they intend to submit a written statement for the Coordinating Council to consider. Per Section 3, “Ensuring Responsible Spending of Recovery Act Funds,” 74 FR 12531, 12533 (March 25, 2009), individuals who wish to make an oral statement will be asked to disclose whether they are registered lobbyists.
Individuals should register to participate no later than Monday, May 11, at 5 p.m., EDT. Due to time constraints, not everyone who volunteers to make an oral statement will be able to do so. However, all statements received will be considered by the Coordinating Council as part of their deliberations.
To register, go to
If sign language interpretation or other reasonable accommodation for a disability is needed, please contact Mr. Donald L. Inniss, Director, Office of Equal Employment Opportunity Program, Program Support Center, on (301) 443–1144.
Each public meeting is scheduled for a three-hour period, but will end sooner if participants have finished providing input before the time period expires. We are asking for input concerning specific topics as follows:
To help interested individuals prepare for the meetings, we invite review of the Act. The full text is set forth on the Internet at:
Also, the Office of the Secretary has an e-mail notification list to provide interested parties with automatic notification of relevant information posted on Recovery.gov and the HHS Web site (