[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 156 (Tuesday, August 17, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 46000-46001]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-17535]


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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

National Institutes of Health


Request for Information: Comments on the National Institute of 
Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) Draft Strategic Plan

AGENCY: National Institutes of Health, HHS.

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: This Request for Information (RFI) is intended to seek 
feedback from the public on the draft National Institute of Diabetes 
and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) Strategic Plan for Research. 
NIDDK invites input from: The scientific research community; patients 
and caregivers; health care providers and health advocacy 
organizations; scientific and

[[Page 46001]]

professional organizations; federal agencies; and other stakeholders, 
including interested members of the public. Organizations are strongly 
encouraged to submit a single response that reflects the views of their 
organization and their membership as a whole.

DATES: Comments must be received by 11:59:59 p.m. (ET) on August 31, 
2021 to ensure consideration.

ADDRESSES: All comments must be submitted electronically on the 
submission website, available at https://rfi.grants.nih.gov/?s=60fef9beab43000053007ed2.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Please direct all inquiries to: Lisa 
Gansheroff, [email protected], 301-496-6623.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This Notice is in accordance with the 21st 
Century Cures Act, NIH institutes are required to regularly update 
their strategic plans. The NIDDK's ongoing Institute-wide strategic 
planning process will develop a broad vision for accelerating research 
into the causes, prevention, and treatment of diseases and conditions 
within the Institute's mission. This overarching trans-NIDDK Strategic 
Plan will complement NIDDK's disease-specific planning efforts. The 
Strategic Plan will have a 5-year time horizon but will also include 
planning for longer term efforts that could be initiated within this 
time frame.
    External input has been integral to the strategic planning process. 
NIDDK established a Working Group of Council, comprised of 44 external 
scientists and patient advocates, including a subset of the members of 
NIDDK's Advisory Council and others with expertise across the range of 
NIDDK's mission areas. The Institute also invited broad external input 
with a public RFI in 2020, and received valuable comments from 
organizations, individual researchers, people living with diseases in 
NIDDK's mission, and others. Based on input from the Working Group, the 
previous RFI, and Council, the Institute has prepared a draft of the 
Strategic Plan; the draft will be available for public comment through 
August 31, 2021 via the new RFI at the link above.
    NIDDK is committed to empowering a multidisciplinary research 
community; engaging diverse stakeholders; and leveraging discoveries of 
connections among diseases across NIDDK's mission to improve 
prevention, treatment, and health equity--pursuing pathways to health 
for all. This theme is addressed throughout the draft strategic plan.
    The draft Strategic Plan includes five major sections:
     Advance understanding of biological pathways and 
environmental contributors to health and disease
     Advance pivotal clinical studies and trials for 
prevention, treatment, and cures in diverse populations
     Advance research to disseminate and implement evidence-
based prevention strategies and treatments in clinics and community 
settings, to improve the health of all people, more rapidly and more 
effectively
     Advance stakeholder engagement--including patients and 
other participants as true partners in research
     Promote efficient and effective ways to serve as a trusted 
steward of public resources and support research for diseases across 
our mission
    NIDDK invites comments on the draft Strategic Plan from: The 
scientific research community; patients and caregivers; health care 
providers and health advocacy organizations; scientific and 
professional organizations; federal agencies; and other stakeholders, 
including interested members of the public. Organizations are strongly 
encouraged to submit a single response that reflects the views of their 
organization and membership as a whole.
    Responses to this RFI are voluntary and may be submitted 
anonymously. Please do not include any information that you do not wish 
to make public. Proprietary, classified, confidential, or sensitive 
information should not be included in your response. The Government 
will use the information submitted in response to this RFI at its 
discretion. Individual feedback will not be provided to any responder. 
The Government reserves the right to use any submitted information on 
public websites, in reports, in summaries of the state of the science, 
in any possible resultant solicitation(s), grant(s), or cooperative 
agreement(s), or in the development of future funding opportunity 
announcements. This RFI is for informational and planning purposes only 
and is not a solicitation for applications or an obligation on the part 
of the Government to provide support for any ideas identified in 
response to it. Please note that the Government will not pay for the 
preparation of any information submitted or for use of that 
information. NIDDK looks forward to your input and we hope that you 
will share this RFI with your colleagues.

    Dated: August 11, 2021.
Bruce Tibor Roberts,
Health Science Policy Analyst, Office of Scientific Program and Policy 
Analysis, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney 
Diseases, National Institutes of Health.
[FR Doc. 2021-17535 Filed 8-16-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4140-01-P