[Congressional Bills 111th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 353 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

111th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 353

 To amend title IV of the Public Health Service Act to provide for the 
             establishment of pediatric research consortia.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                            January 29, 2009

  Mr. Brown (for himself and Mr. Bond) introduced the following bill; 
     which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, 
                     Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title IV of the Public Health Service Act to provide for the 
             establishment of pediatric research consortia.

    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 ``Pediatric Research Consortia 
Establishment Act''.

SEC. 2. NATIONAL PEDIATRIC RESEARCH CONSORTIA.

    Subpart 7 of part C of title IV of the Public Health Service Act 
(42 U.S.C. 285g et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 452H. NATIONAL PEDIATRIC RESEARCH CONSORTIA.

    ``(a) In General.--The Director of the National Institutes of 
Health, acting through the Director of the National Institute of Child 
Health and Human Development and in collaboration with all other 
Institutes of the National Institutes of Health that support pediatric 
research, shall award grants, contracts, or cooperative agreements to 
public or nonprofit private entities to pay all or part of the cost of 
planning, establishing, and providing basic operating support for up to 
20 national pediatric research consortia.
    ``(b) Research.--Each consortium established under subsection (a) 
shall supplement, but not replace, the establishment of a comprehensive 
pediatric research portfolio. Such consortium shall conduct basic, 
clinical, behavioral, social, and translational research, as well as 
training and demonstration of advanced diagnostic and treatment methods 
relating to pediatrics.
    ``(c) Coordination of Consortia Reports.--The Director of NIH 
shall--
            ``(1) as appropriate, provide for the coordination of 
        information among consortia under subsection (a) and ensure 
        regular communication between such consortia; and
            ``(2) require the periodic preparation of reports on the 
        activities of the consortia and the submission of the reports 
        to the Director.
    ``(d) Organization of Consortium.--Each consortium established 
under subsection (a) shall be formed from a collaboration of 
cooperating institutions with a lead institution, meeting such 
requirements as may be prescribed by the Director of NIH, including 
participation in a network of such consortium.
    ``(e) Limitation.--Payments under subsection (a) shall not exceed 
$2,500,000 per year for each consortium in the first 5 year cycle.
    ``(f) Duration of Support.--Support for a consortium established 
under subsection (a) may be provided under this section for a period of 
5 years and may be extended for additional periods of 5 years each, 
with enhanced funding opportunities based on a review of the operations 
by an appropriate scientific review group established by the 
Director.''.
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