§285a–12 Interagency Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Coordinating Committee

Summary

The Secretary must set up the Interagency Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Coordinating Committee within 6 months after October 8, 2008. The Committee must share and coordinate breast cancer research across federal agencies and give advice to the NIH and other agencies on how to improve research. It must make a broad plan and guide funding for collaborative, multi-discipline studies, including work on environmental and genetic factors. The Committee must push for new approaches, identify key research questions and gaps, increase studies that involve two or more national research institutes (including Common Fund work), and grow multi-institution research grants. It must also summarize federal advances in diagnosis, prevention, and treatment. Within 2 years after it starts, the Committee must recommend changes to research activities to improve NIH planning, avoid duplication across agencies, increase public and patient group input, improve sharing of research results, and expand public–private partnerships. The Committee may include other cancers when that helps breast cancer research. It will have up to 7 voting federal members (for example, the CDC Director, the NIH Director and certain institute directors, an NCI Board representative, other HHS heads, and agencies like the Department of Defense) plus 12 appointed voting members: 6 non-federal scientists or health professionals from different fields, regions, and settings who know peer review, and 6 members from the public who represent people with breast cancer. Nonvoting members can be added as needed. Voting members choose a chair who the NIH Director must approve. The Committee meets when the chair or NIH Director calls it, but at least once a year. The Secretary must review whether the Committee is still needed in calendar year 2011 and then at least every 2 years after that.