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Hi All - Several months ago I was contacted by an official at the National Institutes of Health in regard to participating on a special Federal government panel. The committee will be concerned with all aspects of xenotransplantation. As most of you know, I am a patient who has had this highly experimental procedure in an effort to relieve the symptoms of Parkinson's Disease. Our first meeting (of the Secretary's Advisory Committee on Xenotransplantation) will take place next week. I am flying down to Washington where I will be a member of a 20 person board. My role? Patient Advocate. There will be a reception on Monday night followed by 2 days of conferences, meetings, and workshops. We will be helping to set government policies and guidelines on this controversial research. Future meetings are planned to continue this important work. I'll send a report to this group once the meeting is over. For those who are interested, please read my online diary at this URL: www.geocities.com/jimcfinn/index.html Warmly - Jim Finn