I 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 1743 

To establish the National Center on Liver Disease Research, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 28, 2007 

Mr. LYNCH (for himself, Mr. KING of New York, Mr. MCCOTTER, Mr. 

GRIJALVA, Mr. OLVER, and Mr. MCNULTY) introduced the following bill; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

A BILL 

To establish the National Center on Liver Disease Research, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Liver Research En5 hancement Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 The Congress finds as follows: 

8 (1) An estimated 30,000,000 people in the 

9 United States are affected by a liver or liver-related 

10 disease. 


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1 (2) In excess of $15,000,000,000 is spent annu2 ally to provide medical care for people in the United 

3 States with hepatitis C. This cost is projected to 

4 grow substantially over the next decade without a 

5 vaccine, cure, or the discovery of better treatments. 

6 (3) There are over 4,000,000 people in the 

7 United States who are or have been infected with 

8 hepatitis C, 3,200,000 of whom are chronically in9 fected. 

10 (4) Due to limited research, current treatments 

11 for hepatitis C are effective in approximately 50 per12 cent of the cases. 

13 (5) A vaccine has not been developed for hepa14 titis C. 

15 (6) There are 10,000 to 12,000 deaths each 

16 year due to hepatitis C, and the annual death total 

17 is projected to triple absent increased public health 

18 and research interventions. 

19 (7) Hepatitis C is the leading cause of death 

20 among people co-infected with HIV. 

21 (8) Chronic infection with hepatitis B or C is 

22 associated with an increased incidence of primary 

23 liver cancer, once a rare malignancy in the United 

24 States. 


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1 (9) There are 1,400,000 people in the United 

2 States who have been infected with hepatitis B. 

3 (10) One out of 10 Asian and Pacific-Islander 

4 Americans are chronically infected with hepatitis B. 

5 (11) It is estimated that as many as 20 percent 

6 of Americans have fatty liver disease which can lead 

7 to cirrhosis and liver failure. 

8 (12) There are 15,000 children hospitalized in 

9 the United States each year due to liver disease. 

10 (13) The only option for many individuals with 

11 advanced or chronic liver disease is a liver trans12 plant. 

13 (14) Approximately 17,000 people in the United 

14 States are on the waiting list for a liver transplant, 

15 but because of the limited supply of livers available 

16 for transplantation, only approximately 6,000 liver 

17 transplants are performed each year. 

18 (15) There are 1,300 people in the United 

19 States who die each year waiting for a liver trans20 plant. 

21 (16) To address the public health threat posed 

22 by liver disease, there is a need for the establishment 

23 of a National Center on Liver Disease Research to 

24 provide dedicated scientific leadership, to create a 


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1 research action plan, and to ensure the funding of 

2 the scientific opportunities identified by the plan. 

3 SEC. 3. NATIONAL CENTER ON LIVER DISEASE RESEARCH. 

4 Subpart 3 of part C of title IV of the Public Health 

5 Service Act (42 U.S.C. 285c, et seq.) is amended by add6 ing at the end the following: 

7 ‘‘NATIONAL CENTER ON LIVER DISEASE RESEARCH

8 ‘‘SEC. 434B. (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is estab9 lished the National Center on Liver Disease Research 

10 (hereafter in this section referred to as the ‘Center’) in 

11 the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kid12 ney Diseases. 

13 ‘‘(b) DIRECTOR.—The Center shall be headed by a 

14 Director, who shall be appointed by the Director of the 

15 Institute, in consultation with the Director of NIH, from 

16 among individuals with the highest scientific credentials. 

17 The Director of the Center shall report directly to the Di18 rector of the Institute. 

19 ‘‘(c) DUTIES.—To ensure the development of in20 creased understanding of and better treatments and cures 

21 for liver diseases through a dedicated scientific leadership 

22 and an adequate allocation of resources, the Director 

23 shall— 

24 ‘‘(1) assist the Liver Disease Research Advisory 

25 Board to develop the Liver Disease Research Action 

26 Plan; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) encourage and coordinate the implementa2 tion of the Plan by the national research institutes, 

3 including by issuing research solicitations and by 

4 using all other available mechanisms. 

5 ‘‘(d) LIVER DISEASE RESEARCH ADVISORY

6 BOARD.— 

7 ‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 days 

8 after the date of the enactment of the Liver Re9 search Enhancement Act of 2007, the Director of 

10 NIH shall establish a board to be known as the 

11 Liver Disease Research Advisory Board (hereafter in 

12 this section referred to as the ‘Advisory Board’). 

13 ‘‘(2) DUTIES.—The Advisory Board shall advise 

14 and assist the Director of the Center concerning 

15 matters relating to liver disease research, including 

16 by developing and revising the Liver Disease Re17 search Action Plan in accordance with subsection 

18 (e). 

19 ‘‘(3) VOTING MEMBERS.—The Advisory Board 

20 shall be composed of 18 voting members appointed 

21 by the Director of NIH, in consultation with the Di22 rector of the Institute, of whom 12 shall be eminent 

23 scientists and 6 shall be lay persons. The Director 

24 of NIH, in consultation with the Director of the InVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:49 Apr 09, 2007 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1743.IH H1743

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1 stitute, shall select 1 of the members to serve as the 

2 Chair of the Advisory Board. 

3 ‘‘(4) EX OFFICIO MEMBERS.—The Director of 

4 NIH shall appoint each director of a national re5 search institute that funds liver disease research to 

6 serve as a nonvoting, ex officio member of the Advi7 sory Board. The Director of NIH shall invite 1 rep8 resentative of the Centers for Disease Prevention 

9 and Control, 1 representative of the Food and Drug 

10 Administration, and 1 representative of the Depart11 ment of Veterans Affairs to serve as such a member. 

12 Each ex officio member of the Advisory Board may 

13 appoint an individual to serve as that member’s rep14 resentative on the Advisory Board. 

15 ‘‘(e) LIVER DISEASE RESEARCH ACTION PLAN.— 

16 ‘‘(1) DEVELOPMENT.—Not later than 15 

17 months after the date of the enactment of the Liver 

18 Research Enhancement Act of 2007, the Advisory 

19 Board shall develop (with appropriate support from 

20 the Director and staff of the Center) a comprehen21 sive plan for the conduct and support of liver disease 

22 research to be known as the Liver Disease Research 

23 Action Plan. The Advisory Board shall submit the 

24 Plan to the Director of NIH and the head of each 


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1 institute or center within the National Institutes of 

2 Health that funds liver disease research. 

3 ‘‘(2) CONTENT.—The Liver Disease Research 

4 Action Plan shall identify scientific opportunities 

5 and priorities of liver disease research necessary to 

6 increase understanding of and to prevent, cure, and 

7 develop better treatment protocols for liver diseases. 

8 ‘‘(3) REVISION.—The Advisory Board shall re9 vise every 3 years the Liver Disease Research Action 

10 Plan, but shall meet annually to review progress and 

11 to amend the Plan as may be appropriate because 

12 of new scientific discoveries. 

13 ‘‘(f) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—Subject to the avail14 ability of appropriations, the Director of each institute or 

15 center within the National Institutes of Health shall allo16 cate to liver disease research through peer-reviewed meth17 ods, the amounts necessary to fund existing scientific re18 search opportunities and, subject to completion and subse19 quent updates of the Liver Disease Research Action Plan, 

20 amounts adequate to carry out the recommendations of 

21 the Plan.’’. 

Æ 


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