NATIONAL RESEARCH COUNCIL

ASSEMBLY OF BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W., Washington, D. C. 20418

   COMMITTEE ON
RISK AND DECISION MAKING

(202) 389-6053

April 17, 1980

Dr. Maxine Singer, Chief
Nucleic Acid Enzymology Section
Division of Cancer. Biology and

Bldg. 37, Room 4A01
National Institues of Health
Bethesda, Maryland 20206

Diagnosis/National Cancer Institute

Dear Dr. Singer:

  The newly formed National Academy of Sciences' Cormittee on
Risk and Decision Making (CORFDM) has been given a brcad mndate to
consider how our society and its various institutions might better
assess, compa~~, and mnage hedth, safety and envhnmental risks.
This is a large and open-ended task and we would welcome advice and
suggestions from you.
ed. 1

(A short description of this project is enclos-

If you have been involved in any research, policy analysis, or

decision rraking about health, safety, and environmental risks that
you think should he of interest to our conunittee, it would be most
helpful to us if ycu would send us some mterial to ponder.

In addition, we would appreciate hearing from you &ut:
-- what your major concerns are and what you think the mst h-

-- what kinds of strategies you would suggest to -rove the

porctant problems are .in this general area,

quality of health, safety, and envhmntal decision a-
ing, including changes in institutional structures or deci-
sion pmcesses,

like the comnittee to consider,

-- what specific process and policy recormendations you would

- what research topics should be funded including specific

research suggestions for the National Science Foundation's
Technology Assessment and Risk Analysis Pr0grm-t:

The National Research Council is the principal operating agency of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering
                  to serve government and other organizations

T)r. I$wtine Singer

April 17, 1980

Please write and send all material to:

Mr. John D. Graharr,, Staff Associate

COW, JH-818
National Acaderry of Sciences
2101 Constitution Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20418

   We hope that the cormittee will be able to &e a Construc-
tive contribution in gaining perspective, ordering priorities, and
suggesting directions for research and decision rraking about the
swam of risks we face.
sistance and advice we can get.
help us.

To do our job well, we need the best as-

I hope that you Will be willing to

Sincerely ,

E0wa-d Raiffa
Chak.