§284n — Title 42 The Public Health and Welfare | U.S. Code

Summary

The Secretary of Health and Human Services, through the NIH Director, can use NIH money to fund demonstration projects that mix life sciences with physical, chemical, math, and computer sciences to help public health. The Secretary must set goals, priorities, and ways to judge results, and work with other agencies like the NSF and the Department of Energy. The projects should encourage bold, higher-risk work that could pay off in the long run and include a mix of small and large projects with different timeframes. Grant applications must get scientific peer review and advisory council review. NIH can also fund or run high-impact, cutting-edge research, give extra flexibility and speed, encourage public‑private partnerships, and ask institute heads to notify the NIH Director and file yearly reports when they do this work. Defined terms: Director of NIH — the person who leads the National Institutes of Health; national research institute — an NIH institute; national center — an NIH center. Not later than the end of fiscal year 2009, the NIH Director must evaluate these activities and report to Congress.

Title 42, §284n

The Public Health and Welfare — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)(1)From amounts to be appropriated under section 282a(b) of this title, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of NIH, (in this subsection referred to as the “Secretary”) in consultation with the Director of the National Science Foundation, the Secretary of Energy, and other agency heads when necessary, may allocate funds for the national research institutes and national centers to make grants for the purpose of improving the public health through demonstration projects for biomedical research at the interface between the biological, behavioral, and social sciences and the physical, chemical, mathematical, and computational sciences.

(2)The Secretary shall establish goals, priorities, and methods of evaluation for research under paragraph (1), and shall provide for interagency collaboration with respect to such research. In developing such goals, priorities, and methods, the Secretary shall ensure that—

(A)the research reflects the vision of innovation and higher risk with long-term payoffs; and

(B)the research includes a wide spectrum of projects, funded at various levels, with varying timeframes.

(3)A grant may be made under paragraph (1) only if the application for the grant has undergone technical and scientific peer review under section 289a of this title and has been reviewed by the advisory council under section 282(k) of this title or has been reviewed by an advisory council composed of representatives from appropriate scientific disciplines who can fully evaluate the applicant.

(b)(1)From amounts to be appropriated under section 282a(b) of this title, the Secretary, acting through the Director of NIH, may allocate funds for the national research institutes and national centers to make awards of grants or contracts or to engage in other transactions for demonstration projects for high-impact, cutting-edge research that fosters scientific creativity and increases fundamental biological understanding leading to the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases and disorders. The head of a national research institute or national center may conduct or support such high-impact, cutting-edge research (with funds allocated under the preceding sentence or otherwise available for such purpose) if the institute or center gives notice to the Director of NIH beforehand and submits a report to the Director of NIH on an annual basis on the activities of the institute or center relating to such research.

(2)In carrying out the program under paragraph (1), the Director of NIH shall give special consideration to coordinating activities with national research institutes whose budgets are substantial relative to a majority of the other institutes.

(3)Activities relating to research described in paragraph (1) shall be designed by the Director of NIH or the head of a national research institute or national center, as applicable, to enable such research to be carried out with maximum flexibility and speed.

(4)In providing for research described in paragraph (1), the Director of NIH or the head of a national research institute or national center, as applicable, shall seek to facilitate partnerships between public and private entities and shall coordinate when appropriate with the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health.

(5)A grant for research described in paragraph (1) may be made only if the application for the grant has undergone technical and scientific peer review under section 289a of this title and has been reviewed by the advisory council under section 282(k) of this title.

(c)Not later than the end of fiscal year 2009, the Secretary, acting through the Director of NIH, shall conduct an evaluation of the activities under this section and submit a report to the Congress on the results of such evaluation.

(d)For purposes of this section, the terms “Director of NIH”, “national research institute”, and “national center” have the meanings given such terms in section 281 of this title.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification Section was enacted as part of the National Institutes of Health Reform Act of 2006, and not as part of the Public Health Service Act which comprises this chapter.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Section applicable only with respect to amounts appropriated for fiscal year 2007 or subsequent fiscal years, see section 109 of Pub. L. 109–482, set out as an

Effective Date

of 2007 Amendment note under section 281 of this title.

§284n Certain demonstration projects

Summary

Title 42, §284n

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

Effective Date

Citations & Metadata