§285d–1 — Title 42 The Public Health and Welfare | U.S. Code

§285d–1 National arthritis and musculoskeletal and skin diseases program

Title 42 › Chapter CHAPTER 6A— - PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE › Subchapter SUBCHAPTER III— - NATIONAL RESEARCH INSTITUTES › Part Part C— - Specific Provisions Respecting National Research Institutes › Subpart subpart 4— - national institute of arthritis and musculoskeletal and skin diseases › § 285d–1

Last updated Apr 6, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Director of the Institute must write and send a plan to the NIH Director for a national program to expand, strengthen, and coordinate work on arthritis and musculoskeletal and skin diseases. The Institute’s advisory council helps with the plan. The plan must especially push research into what causes arthritis in children and how to treat it. The Director must review and update the plan from time to time and send any updates to the NIH Director. The program must be coordinated with other research institutes and must cover key areas: studying how these diseases start, spread, and can be prevented by supporting basic science; developing, testing, and evaluating tests, drugs, devices, and rehab methods for diagnosis, treatment, and prevention; creating replacement technologies for damaged bones, muscles, and joints; tracking and preventing school athletic injuries; and focused research on childhood arthritis. The Director must run the program according to the plan and its updates.

Title 42, §285d–1

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

(a)The Director of the Institute, with the advice of the Institute’s advisory council, shall prepare and transmit to the Director of NIH a plan for a national arthritis and musculoskeletal and skin diseases program to expand, intensify, and coordinate the activities of the Institute respecting arthritis and musculoskeletal and skin diseases. The plan shall include such comments and recommendations as the Director of the Institute determines appropriate. The plan shall place particular emphasis upon expanding research into better understanding the causes and the development of effective treatments for arthritis affecting children. The Director of the Institute shall periodically review and revise such plan and shall transmit any revisions of such plan to the Director of NIH.

(b)Activities under the national arthritis and musculoskeletal and skin diseases program shall be coordinated with the other national research institutes to the extent that such institutes have responsibilities respecting arthritis and musculoskeletal and skin diseases, and shall, at least, provide for—

(1)investigation into the epidemiology, etiology, and prevention of all forms of arthritis and musculoskeletal and skin diseases, including sports-related disorders, primarily through the support of basic research in such areas as immunology, genetics, biochemistry, microbiology, physiology, bioengineering, and any other scientific discipline which can contribute important knowledge to the treatment and understanding of arthritis and musculoskeletal and skin diseases;

(2)research into the development, trial, and evaluation of techniques, drugs, and devices used in the diagnosis, treatment, including medical rehabilitation, and prevention of arthritis and musculoskeletal and skin diseases;

(3)research on the refinement, development, and evaluation of technological devices that will replace or be a substitute for damaged bone, muscle, and joints and other supporting structures;

(4)the establishment of mechanisms to monitor the causes of athletic injuries and identify ways of preventing such injuries on scholastic athletic fields; and

(5)research into the causes of arthritis affecting children and the development, trial, and evaluation of techniques, drugs and devices used in the diagnosis, treatment (including medical rehabilitation), and prevention of arthritis in children.

(c)The Director of the Institute shall carry out the national arthritis and musculoskeletal and skin diseases program in accordance with the plan prepared under subsection (a) and any revisions of such plan made under such subsection.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1993—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 103–43, § 701(b)(1), inserted after second sentence “The plan shall place particular emphasis upon expanding research into better understanding the causes and the development of effective treatments for arthritis affecting children.” Subsec. (b)(5). Pub. L. 103–43, § 701(b)(2), added par. (5). 1988—Pub. L. 100–607 inserted “and skin” after “musculoskeletal” in section catchline and wherever appearing in text.