The following email was sent into us by Janelle, we both thought we should share it with all of you.

Hugs
Christine


Dear breastcancer.org member,
There is a special opportunity that many of you might like to participate in.
The U.S. National Cancer Institute's ("NCI") highest priority is to eradicate
cancer by year 2015 -- or sooner, if at all possible. The NCI knows that this
critical goal can only be accomplished by learning from people like you who have
been personally affected by cancer. As a group, people affected by cancer are
referred to as the "cancer advocacy community."

With the NCI Director, Dr. Andrew Von Eschenbach, through my position on the NCI
Director's Consumer Liaison Group, I have led the effort to strengthen
communication between NCI and the cancer advocacy community.

Together, we have developed a Web site called "NCI Listens and Learns" which
will present questions to the cancer advocacy community and the public for ideas
and suggestions. Comments will be synthesized, reported on the Web site, and
given to NCI for a response that will also be posted on the Web site.

We would appreciate your help in pre-testing "NCI Listens and Learns." You are
invited to visit the site at http://dialog.cancer.gov, and "test drive" it. You can explore its sections, comment on the question that is posted for this pre-test, and get a general feel for the purpose, design, and function of the site. We encourage you to log on
while you are on the site and post your comments to the question that is there.

After visiting "NCI Listens and Learns" we invite you to provide us with
feedback about the perceived strengths and weaknesses of the site. We would
appreciate it if you could take a few minutes and answer the following
questions.

1) What overall comments do you have about the Web site?

2) Are there specific aspects of this online forum that you particularly like?

3) Are there specific aspects that you particularly dislike?

4) What would you need to see to be confident that NCI is listening to and
acting upon the feedback it receives from the online forum?

5) Can you recommend ways in which this Web site could be improved?

6) Was anything missing from the Web site? What features or approach would you
like to see added?

Please email your comments by September 6, 2004 to the Office of Liaison
Activities at The National Cancer Institute at liaison@od.nci.nih.gov. You may
also feel free to phone Devon McGoldrick at (301) 435-6756.

Thank you for your participation. We hope that through your constructive
feedback we can build "NCI Listens and Learns" into a valuable tool for all
members of the cancer community.

Best Regards,

Marisa Weiss, M.D.
NCI Director's Consumer Liaison Group &
President and Founder
breastcancer.org

Elisabeth A. Handley
Acting Director, Office of Liaison Activities
National Cancer Institute