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On January 15, 2007 President Bush signed H.R. 6164 as P.L.
109-482, the National Institutes of Health Reform Act of 2006,
affirming the importance of NIH and its vital role in advancing
biomedical research to improve the health of the Nation.
- Provisions revised Title IV of the PHS Act and created the
Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives,
to recommend cross-cutting projects for support by the Common
Fund.
- The bill authorizes, but does not appropriate, for NIH $30,331,309,000
for FY 2007, $32,831,309,000 for FY 2008 and such sums as necessary
for FY 2009.
- The bill deletes most reports pertaining to NIH in current
law and replaces them with one biennial report to Congress.
- The bill calls for the establishment of a Scientific
Management Review Board to review the organization of
NIH at least every seven years.
- The bill also authorizes the NIH Director to award grants
for demonstration projects for research bridging the biological
sciences with the physical, chemical, mathematical, and computational
sciences; and authorizes the establishment of demonstration
programs that award grants, contracts, or engage in other transactions,
for high-impact, cutting-edge research demonstration programs.
(Note: The House passed the measure by a vote of 414 - 2 on
September 26, 2006, the Senate passed an amended version by unanimous
consent on December 8, 2006, and the House approved the Senate
version by voice vote on December 9.)
- The NIH Director established an Ad Hoc Working Group
of the NIH Steering Committee to be chaired by the NIH Deputy
Director and comprised of IC Directors and leadership in legislation,
policy, management, communications, extramural and intramural
activities, budget, and the Office of General Counsel to make
recommendations on the implementation of the legislation.
- The Ad Hoc Working Group completed a careful, detailed
analysis of the legislation and carefully planned the implementation
of this significant legislation.
The agency has successfully implemented the legislation. For
example:
- NIH is using these new authorities to enable and expedite
trans-NIH research, funded through the new Common Fund.
- The first Biennial Report was delivered to Congress in June
of 2008, which explains NIH programs to Congress in one consolidated
and transparent publication.
- The agency has moved ahead on an open and electronic disease
funding report, by creating the Research, Condition, and Disease
Categorization (RCDC) system, launched in February of 2009.
RCDC utilizes a computer-based tool that applies a uniform
process of accounting for NIH funding for diseases and conditions.
The process produces a fully transparent list of grants underlying
and supporting the dollar amounts for each reporting area.
- The Scientific Management Review Board will have its first
meeting at the end of April 2009. The SMRB will serve as an
important source of advice to NIH on organizational issues,
helping to ensure that NIH’s structure is optimal for supporting
the advancement of science.
- NIH is in the process of drafting a report to Congress evaluating
demonstration projects authorized by the Act.
Related links
- Scientific Management
Review Board
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Message from the NIH
Director Regarding the National Institutes of Health Reform
Act of 2006, January 22, 2007
- A Statement from
the NIH Director, Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D., Regarding the “National
Institutes of Health Reform Act of 2006” (PDF
- 93 KB), December 11, 2006
- P.L. 109-482 (H.R. 6164), January
15, 2007
- Summary
of bill, Office of Legislative Policy and Analysis (OLPA)
This page was last reviewed on
May 6, 2009
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