Director's Council of Public Representatives

Activities and Reports

Invitation to review and distribute COPR's "Response to IOM Committee Report on the Organizational Structure of NIH"

June 17, 2004

Dear Colleague:

I am sending the enclosed report at the request of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Council of Public Representatives (COPR). This report is its response to the National Research Council/Institute of Medicine of the National Academies report, Enhancing the Vitality of the NIH: Organizational Change to Meet New Challenges. This December 2003 COPR report follows the December 2002 COPR report submitted prior to the Institute of Medicine's deliberations.

COPR is a forum for advising the NIH Director on issues affecting the broad development of NIH policy, programs, and research goals. It also advises and helps the NIH Director enhance public participation in NIH activities, increase public understanding of the NIH, and bring important matters of public interest forward for discussion in public settings. The COPR membership comprises a variety of backgrounds, cultures, geographic origins. Its members share a vital interest in the work of the NIH. The enclosed report therefore represents the COPR's independent conclusions and recommendations regarding the NIH organizational structure and management.

We invite your organization to review and distribute the COPR report to your constituency groups and interested parties. Thank you for your time and interest in the NIH.

Sincerely,

Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D.
Director