§285b–7 National Center on Sleep Disorders Research

Summary

Within 1 year after June 10, 1993, the Director of the Institute must create the National Center on Sleep Disorders Research. The Center must have a director who the Director of the Institute appoints. The Center’s job is to support and run research, training, public information, and other work about sleep disorders. That includes basic sleep science, circadian rhythm studies, and related topics. The Center must also coordinate its work with other Federal agencies, other parts of the National Institutes of Health, and with public and nonprofit groups. The Director of the National Institutes of Health must set up a Sleep Disorders Research Advisory Board. The board will advise the NIH Director (through the Institute Director) and the Center Director about the Center’s science, policies, and a research plan. The NIH Director will appoint 12 nonfederal public members — eight from health or science fields and four who represent people with sleep disorders. Ten federal leaders join the board automatically, including the NIH Director, the Center Director, five other NIH institute directors, the Assistant Secretary for Health, the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs), and the Veterans’ Administration Chief Medical Director. The board picks its own chair. The NIH Director, after consulting the Center director and the board, must make and update a comprehensive plan to set research priorities and coordinate NIH sleep research. The Center director, working with the CDC, may coordinate with the Departments of Transportation, Defense, Education, Labor, and Commerce to gather data, do studies, and share public information about sleep disorders and sleep deprivation.