Title 42, The Public Health and WelfareRelease 119-110

§286b–4 Assistance for Projects in Sciences Related to Health, for Research and Development in Medical Library Science, and for Development of Education Technologies

Title 42 › CHAPTER 6A — PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE › SUBCHAPTER III — NATIONAL RESEARCH INSTITUTES › Part D — National Library of Medicine › subpart 2 — financial assistance › § 286b–4

Last updated Sep 22, 2026|Official source

Summary

The Secretary must give grants to doctors, other health workers, scientists, and to public or nonprofit institutions so they can collect or write materials about scientific, social, or cultural advances in health sciences. The Secretary must also set up ways to let the Library and college or university libraries help with those projects. The Secretary must fund research, demonstrations, and development in medical library science and in new ways to store, find, and share health information. Grants also support new education technologies, such as computer-assisted teaching and testing of clinical skills, moving lab research into clinical use, expanding use of computer-stored research databases in labs and clinics, and testing new training technologies for health workers. Applicants must agree to make the projects available to train health students and to improve health professionals’ research and teaching.

Full Legal Text

Title 42, §286b–4

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

(a)Compilation of existing and original writings on health
The Secretary shall make grants to physicians and other practitioners in the sciences related to health, to scientists, and to public or nonprofit private institutions on behalf of such physicians, other practitioners, and scientists for the compilation of existing, or the writing of original, contributions relating to scientific, social, or cultural advancements in sciences related to health. In making such grants, the Secretary shall make appropriate arrangements under which the facilities of the Library and the facilities of libraries of public and private nonprofit institutions of higher learning may be made available in connection with the projects for which such grants are made.
(b)Medical library science and related activities
The Secretary shall make grants to appropriate public or private nonprofit institutions and enter into contracts with appropriate persons, for purposes of carrying out projects of research, investigations, and demonstrations in the field of medical library science and related activities and for the development of new techniques, systems, and equipment, for processing, storing, retrieving, and distributing information pertaining to sciences related to health.
(c)Development of education technologies
(1)The Secretary shall make grants to public or nonprofit private institutions for the purpose of carrying out projects of research on, and development and demonstration of, new education technologies.
(2)The purposes for which a grant under paragraph (1) may be made include projects concerning—
(A)computer-assisted teaching and testing of clinical competence at health professions and research institutions;
(B)the effective transfer of new information from research laboratories to appropriate clinical applications;
(C)the expansion of the laboratory and clinical uses of computer-stored research databases; and
(D)the testing of new technologies for training health care professionals.
(3)The Secretary may not make a grant under paragraph (1) unless the applicant for the grant agrees to make the projects available with respect to—
(A)assisting in the training of health professions students; and
(B)enhancing and improving the capabilities of health professionals regarding research and teaching.

Legislative History

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

Amendments

1993—Subsec. (c). Pub. L. 103–43 added subsec. (c).

Reference

Citations & Metadata

Citation

42 U.S.C. § 286b–4

Title 42, The Public Health and Welfare

Last Updated

Sep 22, 2026

Release point: 119-110