Pediatric Research Initiative Act of 1999

Summary: Pediatric Research Initiative Act of 1999 - Amends the Public Health Service Act to mandate establishment, in the National Institutes of Health, of a Pediatric Research Initiative.  Authorizes appropriations. 
Directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make available within the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development enhanced support for extramural activities relating to the training and career development of pediatric researchers.  Authorizes appropriations.

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Pediatric Research Initiative Act of 
1999''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) innovations in health care, deriving from scientific 
        investigation of the highest quality, offer substantial 
        benefits to the well-being of children and savings in health 
        care costs;
            (2) findings in pediatric research not only promote and 
        maintain health throughout a child's lifespan, but also 
        contribute significantly to new insights and discoveries that 
        will aid in the prevention and treatment of illnesses and 
        conditions among adults;
            (3) the rapidly expanding knowledge base in biology and 
        medicine is offering greater opportunities than ever for 
        pediatric physician-scientists and basic researchers to harness 
        this knowledge to the benefit of children and society;
            (4) the relatively smaller number of children compared as 
        to adults and the relative rarity of many of their diseases and 
        conditions has resulted in comparatively fewer resources being 
        devoted to pediatric research and a lesser focus on children's 
        needs;
            (5) substantially more of the support for children's health 
        research is provided through the Federal Government than is the 
        case for adults because of these market forces;
            (6) a new commitment to invest in children's research today 
        will make a real difference for children tomorrow;
            (7) the commitment to invest in children's research should 
        include not only added investment that is devoted to pediatric 
        research but should also focus on ensuring the existence of a 
        future supply of pediatric physician-scientists;
            (8) the supply of pediatric physician-scientists is 
        threatened by market demands which provide little room for 
        support for research training for new pediatric physician-
        scientists;
            (9) over 60 percent of the pediatric departments in the 
        United States have no National Institutes of Health training 
        grant support; and
            (10) improvements in the level of training grant support is 
        essential to ensuring the existence of future generations of 
        pediatric clinical investigators who are responsible for moving 
        research discoveries from the laboratories to the patients, and 
        who are therefore critical to clinical research.

SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF A PEDIATRIC RESEARCH INITIATIVE.

    Part A of title IV of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 281 
et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 404F. PEDIATRIC RESEARCH INITIATIVE.

    ``(a) Establishment.--The Secretary shall establish within the 
Office of the Director of NIH a Pediatric Research Initiative (referred 
to in this section as the `Initiative'). The Initiative shall be headed 
by the Director of NIH.
    ``(b) Purpose.--The purpose of the Initiative is to provide funds 
to enable the Director of NIH to encourage--
            ``(1) increased support for pediatric biomedical research 
        within the National Institutes of Health to ensure that the 
        expanding opportunities for advancement in scientific 
        investigations and care for children are realized;
            ``(2) enhanced collaborative efforts among the Institutes 
        to support multidisciplinary research in the areas that the 
        Director deems most promising; and
            ``(3) the development of adequate pediatric clinical trials 
        and pediatric use information to promote the safer and more 
        effective use of prescription drugs in the pediatric 
        population.
    ``(c) Duties.--In carrying out subsection (b), the Director of NIH 
shall--
            ``(1) consult with the Institute of Child Health and Human 
        Development and the other Institutes, in considering their 
        requests for new or expanded pediatric research efforts, and 
        consult with other advisors as the Director determines 
        appropriate;
            ``(2) have broad discretion in the allocation of any 
        Initiative assistance among the Institutes, among types of 
        grants, and between basic and clinical research so long as 
        the--
                    ``(A) assistance is directly related to the 
                illnesses and conditions of children; and
                    ``(B) assistance is extramural in nature; and
            ``(3) be responsible for the oversight of any newly 
        appropriated Initiative funds and annually report to Congress 
        and the public on the extent of the total extramural support 
        for pediatric research across the NIH, including the specific 
        support and research awards allocated through the Initiative.
    ``(d) Authorization.--To carry out this section, there is 
authorized to be appropriated in the aggregate, $50,000,000 for each of 
the fiscal years 2000 through 2002.
    ``(e) Transfer of Funds.--The Director of NIH may transfer amounts 
appropriated under this section to any of the Institutes for a fiscal 
year to carry out the purposes of the Initiative under this section.''.

SEC. 4. INVESTMENT IN TOMORROW'S PEDIATRIC RESEARCHERS.

    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. 452E. INVESTMENT IN TOMORROW'S PEDIATRIC RESEARCHERS.

    ``(a) In General.--The Secretary shall make available within the 
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development enhanced 
support for extramural activities relating to the training and career 
development of pediatric researchers.
    ``(b) Purpose.--The purpose of support provided under subsection 
(a) shall be to ensure the future supply of researchers dedicated to 
the care and research needs of children by providing for--
            ``(1) an increase in the number and size of institutional 
        training grants to medical school pediatric departments and 
        children's hospitals; and
            ``(2) an increase in the number of career development 
        awards for pediatricians building careers in pediatric basic 
        and clinical research.
    ``(c) Authorization.--To carry out this section, there is 
authorized to be appropriated, $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2000, 
$15,000,000 for fiscal year 2001, and $20,000,000 for fiscal year 
2002.''.