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Title 42, The Public Health and WelfareRelease 119-110

§285m–1 National Deafness and Other Communication Disorders Program

Title 42 › CHAPTER 6A — PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE › SUBCHAPTER III — NATIONAL RESEARCH INSTITUTES › Part C — Specific Provisions Respecting National Research Institutes › subpart 13 — national institute on deafness and other communication disorders › § 285m–1

Last updated Sep 23, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Director of the Institute must set up a National Deafness and Other Communication Disorders Program with advice from the Institute’s advisory council. The Director must write and send a plan to the Director of NIH to start, grow, and coordinate work on hearing problems (including tinnitus) and other communication issues like balance, voice, speech, language, taste, and smell. The Director will review and update the plan from time to time and send any changes to the Director of NIH. The Program will fund and carry out research on causes, how diseases work, detection, treatment, and prevention of hearing and communication disorders. It will support basic science across many fields (for example, anatomy, genetics, neuroscience, engineering, and psychology). The Program will test medical, surgical, and behavioral methods and devices (such as hearing aids, implants, and other communication tools). It will study early detection, prevention, effects on learning (including stuttering), needs of older adults, environmental risks, and run internal clinical and basic research programs.

Full Legal Text

Title 42, §285m–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 establish a National Deafness and Other Communication Disorders Program (hereafter in this section referred to as the “Program”). The Director or the Institute shall, with respect to the Program, prepare and transmit to the Director of NIH a plan to initiate, expand, intensify and coordinate activities of the Institute respecting disorders of hearing (including tinnitus) and other communication processes, including diseases affecting hearing, balance, voice, speech, language, taste, and smell. The plan shall include such comments and recommendations as the Director of the Institute determines appropriate. The Director of the Institute shall periodically review and revise the plan and shall transmit any revisions of the plan to the Director of NIH.
(b)Activities under the Program shall include—
(1)investigation into the etiology, pathology, detection, treatment, and prevention of all forms of disorders of hearing and other communication processes, primarily through the support of basic research in such areas as anatomy, audiology, biochemistry, bioengineering, epidemiology, genetics, immunology, microbiology, molecular biology, the neurosciences, otolaryngology, psychology, pharmacology, physiology, speech and language pathology, and any other scientific disciplines that can contribute important knowledge to the understanding and elimination of disorders of hearing and other communication processes;
(2)research into the evaluation of techniques (including surgical, medical, and behavioral approaches) and devices (including hearing aids, implanted auditory and nonauditory prosthetic devices and other communication aids) used in diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation, and prevention of disorders of hearing and other communication processes;
(3)research into prevention, and early detection and diagnosis, of hearing loss and speech and language disturbances (including stuttering) and research into preventing the effects of such disorders on learning and learning disabilities with extension of programs for appropriate referral and rehabilitation;
(4)research into the detection, treatment, and prevention of disorders of hearing and other communication processes in the growing elderly population with extension of rehabilitative programs to ensure continued effective communication skills in such population;
(5)research to expand knowledge of the effects of environmental agents that influence hearing or other communication processes; and
(6)developing and facilitating intramural programs on clinical and fundamental aspects of disorders of hearing and all other communication processes.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Codification Pub. L. 100–553 and Pub. L. 100–607 contained identical provisions enacting this section. See 1988 Amendment note below.

Amendments

1988—Pub. L. 100–690 amended this section to read as if the

Amendments

made by Pub. L. 100–607, which enacted this section, had not been enacted. See Codification note above.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Effective Date

of 1988 AmendmentFor

Effective Date

of amendment by Pub. L. 100–690, see section 2613(b)(1) of Pub. L. 100–690, set out as an Effect of Enactment of Similar Provisions note under section 285m of this title.

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

42 U.S.C. § 285m–1

Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare

Last Updated

Sep 23, 2026

Release point: 119-110