Message from the Director

It was a pleasure to meet with representatives from many of your organizations at our Public Interest Organization meeting in February. Comments from participants and Council members lead me to believe that each meeting is more useful than the previous one. We currently are planning our f ourth annual meeting, and with the help of comments and suggestions you submitted following this year's event, I expect it will be the best ever.

We're also using some of your comments as the basis for this month's "Spotlight on Our Web Site" column. And remember, back issues of the FYI from the NHLBI, with articles such as "Media Tips to Get Your Message Heard" (December 2001) and "Conference Grants are Available from the NHLBI" (May 2001), are accessible online.

Many of you asked for advice and NHLBI contacts for partnering to fund qualified grant applications. If you are one of those people, contact the director of the division most relevant to your organization's focus. We've also established a new Web page, through the "research funding" section of our Web site, so heart, lung, blood, and sleep researchers who are looking for funding can identify public interest organizations that might be willing to support their work.

Many of you said you would like to see better recruitment materials for clinical studies. Examples of our most successful recruitment materials are now available online, through the "scientific resources" section of our Web site. We hope that the examples will give researchers, and organizations such as yours that help them raise awareness about their studies, ideas for designing informational brochures.

Perhaps more important than what we can do for you, however, is what your groups can do for, and with, one another. The meeting gave participants a chance to meet leaders from other organizations and develop the beginnings of a network. I urge you to keep in touch with each other throughout the year. Even though your organizations may be very different, you face many similar challenges. Whereas the NHLBI can introduce you to resources and provide general advice, your colleagues from other organizations can draw on their own experiences to offer concrete suggestions specific to your needs.

Sincerely yours,

Claude Lenfant, M.D.
Director

"Cell-a-brate" the Genome Project by Exploring Your Molecular Self

The Human Genome Project began in 1990 as an effort by researchers from around the world to map and sequence the human genome - the totality of human DNA - as well as the genomes of experimental organisms, such as yeast and mice. To mark the publication of the preliminary genome sequence of humans, the Human Genome Project has produced a free multimedia educational kit, The Human Genome Project: Exploring our Molecular Selves. The kit includes

• an interactive timeline presenting more than 90 Milestones in Genetics.
• two interactive activities, Genetic Variation in Populations and Using Genes to Trace Human History, that clarify similarities and differences among individuals and among populations.
• an animated clip titled How to Sequence a Genome.
• a segment on Ethical, Legal, and Social Issues, complete with questions to encourage dialogue.
• written definitions, phonetic spelling, illustrations, and a "talking" Glossary of Genetic Terms.
• a 3D computer-animated video, Exploring Our Molecular Selves, that illustrates basic components and principles of molecular biology and shows how the information in DNA is converted into the molecules necessary for life.