[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3023 Introduced in Senate (IS)]
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116th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 3023
To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Director of the
National Institutes of Health to make awards to outstanding scientists,
including physician-scientists, to support researchers focusing on
pediatric research, including basic, clinical, translational, or
pediatric pharmacological research, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
December 11, 2019
Ms. Ernst (for herself, Mr. Coons, Mrs. Hyde-Smith, Mr. Casey, Mr.
Wicker, Mr. Bennet, and Mr. Brown) introduced the following bill; which
was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education,
Labor, and Pensions
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Director of the
National Institutes of Health to make awards to outstanding scientists,
including physician-scientists, to support researchers focusing on
pediatric research, including basic, clinical, translational, or
pediatric pharmacological research, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Pediatricians Accelerate Childhood
Therapies Act of 2019'' or the ``PACT Act of 2019''.
SEC. 2. TRANS-NIH AWARDS FOR EARLY-CAREER PEDIATRIC RESEARCHERS.
Part G of title IV of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 288
et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new section:
``SEC. 489A. TRANS-NIH AWARDS FOR EARLY-CAREER PEDIATRIC RESEARCHERS.
``(a) In General.--The Director of the NIH shall make awards to
outstanding scientists, including physician-scientists, to support
researchers focusing on pediatric research, including basic, clinical,
translational, or pediatric pharmacological research.
``(b) Priority Research Topic Areas.--In carrying out subsection
(a), the Director of NIH, in consultation with the Director of the
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human
Development and the directors of other national research institutes and
national centers that participate within the Trans-NIH Pediatric
Research Consortium, shall--
``(1) establish priority research topic areas, informed by
external stakeholders, including research institutions,
research societies, patient organizations, and industry; and
``(2) consider opportunities to align such priority
pediatric research topic areas with current and future
priorities of the National Institutes of Health, including--
``(A) childhood cancer;
``(B) precision medicine, genetics, and genomics;
``(C) rare diseases and disorders, such as sickle
cell disease, and other diseases and disorders with
significant unmet training needs;
``(D) fetal, placental, and neonatal development;
and
``(E) child and adolescent mental health.
``(c) Priority Awards.--In making awards under this section, the
Director of NIH shall--
``(1) give priority to researchers, including physician-
scientists, who have a demonstrated proficiency in conducting
pediatric research, but have not yet achieved research
independence at the time of their application; and
``(2) give special consideration to researchers from
populations that are historically underrepresented in pediatric
medical research.
``(d) Requirements.--The Director of NIH--
``(1) shall require recipients of awards under this section
to use such awards to support pediatric research activities,
including costs associated with laboratory staff and other
costs associated with the conduct of research; and
``(2) may allow recipients of awards under this section to
use such awards for costs associated with receiving guidance
and training from senior researchers as necessary to help such
recipients reach a state of research independence, including
conferences and other meeting participation.
``(e) Supplement, Not Supplant.--Awards made under this section
shall be used to supplement, and not supplant, other funding for
research career development awards.''.
SEC. 3. TRANS-NIH PEDIATRIC CONSORTIUM.
Title IV of the Public Health Service is amended by inserting after
section 409D (42 U.S.C. 284h) the following new section:
``SEC. 409D-1. TRANS-NIH PEDIATRIC CONSORTIUM.
``(a) Establishment.--The Director of NIH shall establish and
maintain a consortium to be known as the Trans-NIH Pediatric Research
Consortium (in this sections referred to as the `Consortium') to
coordinate pediatric research programs across the National Institutes
of Health.
``(b) Membership.--The members of the Consortium shall consist of
representatives of multiple national research institutes and national
centers.
``(c) Chair.--The Chair of the Consortium shall be the Director of
the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human
Development (or the Director's designee).
``(d) Duties.--In coordinating pediatric research programs across
the National Institutes of Health, the Consortium shall--
``(1) establish pediatric research priorities;
``(2) identify gaps and opportunities for research
collaborations involving multiple national research institutes
and national centers; and
``(3) identify opportunities to develop the next generation
of pediatric researchers.
``(e) Consultation.--The Consortium shall consult regularly with
external experts in the field of pediatric research, including
children's hospitals, children's research institutions, patient
organizations, and other stakeholders.''.
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