Enhancing the Stature and Visibility of Medical Rehabilitation Research at NIH Act

Summary: Enhancing the Stature and Visibility of Medical Rehabilitation Research at NIH Act This bill amends the Public Health Service Act to revise requirements for medical rehabilitation research. The purpose of the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research (NCMRR) is revised to include coordination of research and research training. The NCMRR must develop and periodically update a comprehensive research plan for medical rehabilitation research. Currently, this research plan is developed and updated by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The NCMRR must: (1) annually report on progress in achieving the objectives, benchmarks, and guiding principles described in the research plan; and (2) develop guidelines governing the funding for medical rehabilitation research by the National Institutes of Health. The Medical Rehabilitation Coordinating Committee must periodically host a scientific conference or workshop on medical rehabilitation research. The Department of Health and Human Services must enter into interagency agreements to coordinate medical rehabilitation research.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Enhancing the Stature and Visibility 
of Medical Rehabilitation Research at NIH Act''.

SEC. 2. IMPROVING MEDICAL REHABILITATION RESEARCH AT THE NATIONAL 
              INSTITUTES OF HEALTH.

    Section 452 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 285g-4) is 
amended--
            (1) in subsection (b), by striking ``conduct and support'' 
        and inserting ``conduct, support, and coordination'';
            (2) in subsection (c)(1)(C), by striking ``of the Center'' 
        and inserting ``within the Center'';
            (3) in subsection (d)--
                    (A) by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the 
                following: ``(1) The Director of the Center, on behalf 
                of the Director of NIH and the Director of the 
                Institute and in consultation with the coordinating 
                committee established under subsection (e) and the 
                advisory board established under subsection (f), shall 
                develop a comprehensive plan (referred to in this 
                section as the `Research Plan') for the conduct, 
                support, and coordination of medical rehabilitation 
                research.'';
                    (B) in paragraph (2)--
                            (i) in subparagraph (A), by striking ``and 
                        priorities for such research; and'' and 
                        inserting ``priorities for such research, and 
                        existing resources to support the purpose 
                        described in subsection (b);'';
                            (ii) in subparagraph (B), by striking the 
                        period and inserting ``; and''; and
                            (iii) by adding at the end the following:
                    ``(C) include objectives, benchmarks, and guiding 
                principles for conducting, supporting, and coordinating 
                medical rehabilitation research, consistent with the 
                purpose described in subsection (b).'';
                    (C) in paragraph (4)--
                            (i) by striking the first sentence and 
                        inserting the following: ``The Director of the 
                        Center, in consultation with the Director of 
                        the Institute, the coordinating committee 
                        established under subsection (e), and the 
                        advisory board established under subsection 
                        (f), shall periodically, or not less than every 
                        5 years, revise and update the Research Plan, 
                        as appropriate. Not later than 30 days after 
                        the Research Plan is so revised and updated, 
                        the Director of the Center shall transmit the 
                        revised and updated Research Plan to the 
                        President and the appropriate committees of 
                        Congress.''; and
                    (D) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(5) The Director of the Center, in consultation with the Director 
of the Institute, shall annually prepare a report for the coordinating 
committee established under subsection (e) and the advisory board 
established under subsection (f) that describes and analyzes the 
progress during the preceding fiscal year in achieving the objectives, 
benchmarks, and guiding principles described in paragraph (2)(C) and 
includes expenditures of the Center and other agencies of the National 
Institutes of Health for carrying out the Research Plan. The report 
shall include recommendations for revising and updating the Research 
Plan, and such initiatives as the Director of the Center and the 
Director of the Institute determine appropriate. In preparing the 
report, the Director of the Center and the Director of the Institute 
shall consult with the Director of NIH, and the report shall reflect an 
assessment of the Research Plan by the Director of NIH.'';
            (4) in subsection (e)--
                    (A) in paragraph (2), by inserting ``periodically, 
                or not less than every 5 years, host a scientific 
                conference or workshop on medical rehabilitation 
                research and'' after ``The Coordinating Committee 
                shall'';
                    (B) in paragraph (3), by inserting ``the Director 
                of the Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and 
                Strategic Initiatives within the Office of the Director 
                of NIH,'' after ``shall be composed of''; and
                    (C) in paragraph (4), by striking ``Director of the 
                Center'' and inserting ``Director of the Center, acting 
                in the capacity of a designee of the Director of NIH'';
            (5) in subsection (f)(3)(B), by adding at the end the 
        following:
                            ``(xii) The Director of the Division of 
                        Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic 
                        Initiatives.''; and
            (6) by adding at the end the following:
    ``(g) The Director of the Center, in consultation with the Director 
of the Institute, the Coordinating Committee, and the Advisory Board, 
shall develop guidelines governing the funding for medical 
rehabilitation research by the Center and other agencies of the 
National Institutes of Health. At a minimum, such guidelines shall 
reflect the purpose of the Center described in subsection (b) and be 
consistent with the Research Plan.
    ``(h)(1) The Secretary and the heads of other Federal agencies 
shall jointly review the programs carried out (or proposed to be 
carried out) by each such official with respect to medical 
rehabilitation research and, as appropriate, enter into agreements 
preventing duplication among such programs.
    ``(2) The Secretary shall enter into inter-agency agreements 
relating to the coordination of medical rehabilitation research 
conducted by agencies of the National Institutes of Health and other 
agencies of the Federal Government.
    ``(i) For purposes of this section, the term `medical 
rehabilitation research' means the science of mechanisms and 
interventions that prevent, improve, restore, or replace lost, 
underdeveloped, or deteriorating function (defined at the level of 
impairment, activity, and participation, according to the World Health 
Organization in the International Classification of Functioning, 
Disability and Health (2001)).''.

SEC. 3. REQUIREMENTS OF CERTAIN AGREEMENTS FOR ENHANCING COORDINATION 
              AND PREVENTING DUPLICATIVE PROGRAMS OF MEDICAL 
              REHABILITATION RESEARCH.

    Section 3 of the National Institutes of Health Amendments of 1990 
(42 U.S.C. 285g-4 note) is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a), by striking ``(a) In General.--''; 
        and
            (2) by striking subsection (b).