[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 5295 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                S. 5295

  To amend the Public Health Service Act to strengthen mentorship and 
   career development support for early-career researchers receiving 
funding from the National Institutes of Health, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             August 6, 2026

  Mr. McCormick (for himself and Mr. Coons) 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 strengthen mentorship and 
   career development support for early-career researchers receiving 
funding from the National Institutes of Health, 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 ``NIH Mentorship Modernization Act''.

SEC. 2. MENTORSHIP AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT SUPPORT.

    Part G of title IV of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 288 
et set seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 489A. MENTORSHIP AND CAREER DEVELOPMENT SUPPORT.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary shall establish minimum mentorship 
standards and support requirements applicable to entities receiving 
career development, institutional training, fellowship, research 
education, and other research training awards from the National 
Institutes of Health that the Secretary determines would benefit from 
additional mentorship support beyond statutory or award-specific 
requirements. In carrying out this section, the Secretary shall, to the 
maximum extent practicable--
            ``(1) build upon existing mentorship requirements, 
        reporting processes, and award documentation, including annual 
        progress reports add other existing reporting mechanisms of the 
        National Institutes of Health;
            ``(2) avoid duplicative administrative or reporting 
        requirements; and
            ``(3) provide flexibility for institutions with mentorship 
        programs that are substantially similar to the standards and 
        requirements established under this section.
    ``(b) Mentorship Standards.--
            ``(1) In general.--The standards and procedures established 
        under subsection (a) shall include standards for measurable 
        minimum expectations relating to--
                    ``(A) regular mentor-mentee engagement;
                    ``(B) professional development support and career 
                guidance;
                    ``(C) periodic assessment of mentee research and 
                career progress;
                    ``(D) minimum qualification requirements and 
                mentorship competencies for mentors participating in 
                programs supported by such awards; and
                    ``(E) such other mentorship activities as the 
                Secretary determines appropriate.
            ``(2) Compliance.--The Secretary shall establish procedures 
        for entities to certify, through existing annual reporting 
        requirements of the National Institutes of Health, compliance 
        with the standards established under this section.
    ``(c) Dissemination of Mentorship Practices and Guidance.--
            ``(1) In general.--The Secretary--
                    ``(A) shall encourage dissemination of evidence-
                based mentorship practices and guidance, including 
                mentoring compacts, mentor-mentee agreements, 
                individualized development plans, mentor training 
                curricula, and other evidence-based mentorship 
                resources, relating to the standards established under 
                this section; and
                    ``(B) may encourage entities to adopt such 
                practices and guidance, as appropriate.
            ``(2) Cross-institution mentoring.--The practices and 
        guidance issued under this subsection may address mentorship 
        arrangements involving multiple institutions, including 
        documentation of mentoring responsibilities and recognition of 
        co-mentors.
    ``(d) Mentor Support.--Subject to the availability of 
appropriations, the Secretary may provide supplemental funding or other 
support to institutions to assist with implementation of the mentorship 
standards established under this section. Such support may include 
funding for mentor training, mentorship coordination, implementation of 
mentorship agreements, mentor development activities, and other 
reasonable expenses associated with carrying out this section.
    ``(e) Continuous Improvement.--The Secretary shall periodically 
review mentorship practices across career development and research 
training awards of the National Institutes of Health and update 
mentorship standards established under this section, as appropriate, to 
reflect evidence-based practices.
    ``(f) Applicability.--The standards and procedures established 
under this section shall apply only to awards made on or after the date 
that is 2 years after the date of enactment of this section, except 
that a recipient of an award made prior to such date may voluntarily 
comply with such standards and procedures.''.
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