106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 1795

AN ACT

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging

and Bioengineering.

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 1795

AN ACT

To amend the Public Health Service Act to establish the

National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering.

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

2 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘National Institute of

3 Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering Establishment

4 Act’’.

5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

6 The Congress makes the following findings:

7 (1) Basic research in imaging, bioengineering,

8 computer science, informatics, and related fields is

9 critical to improving health care but is fundamen10 tally different from the research in molecular biology

11 on which the current national research institutes at

12 the National Institutes of Health (‘‘NIH’’) are

13 based. To ensure the development of new techniques

14 and technologies for the 21st century, these dis15 ciplines therefore require an identity and research

16 home at the NIH that is independent of the existing

17 institute structure.

18 (2) Advances based on medical research prom19 ise new, more effective treatments for a wide variety

20 of diseases, but the development of new, noninvasive

21 imaging techniques for earlier detection and diag22 nosis of disease is essential to take full advantage of

23 such new treatments and to promote the general im24 provement of health care.

25 (3) The development of advanced genetic and

26 molecular imaging techniques is necessary to con-
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1 tinue the current rapid pace of discovery in molec2 ular biology.

3 (4) Advances in telemedicine, and teleradiology

4 in particular, are increasingly important in the deliv5 ery of high quality, reliable medical care to rural

6 citizens and other underserved populations. To fulfill

7 the promise of telemedicine and related technologies

8 fully, a structure is needed at the NIH to support

9 basic research focused on the acquisition, trans10 mission, processing, and optimal display of images.

11 (5) A number of Federal departments and

12 agencies support imaging and engineering research

13 with potential medical applications, but a central co14 ordinating body, preferably housed at the NIH, is

15 needed to coordinate these disparate efforts and fa16 cilitate the transfer of technologies with medical ap17 plications.

18 (6) Several breakthrough imaging technologies,

19 including magnetic resonance imaging (‘‘MRI’’) and

20 computed tomography (‘‘CT’’), have been developed

21 primarily abroad, in large part because of the ab22 sence of a home at the NIH for basic research in

23 imaging and related fields. The establishment of a

24 central focus for imaging and bioengineering re-
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1 search at the NIH would promote both scientific ad2 vance and United States economic development.

3 (7) At a time when a consensus exists to add

4 significant resources to the NIH in coming years, it

5 is appropriate to modernize the structure of the

6 NIH to ensure that research dollars are expended

7 more effectively and efficiently and that the fields of

8 medical science that have contributed the most to

9 the detection, diagnosis, and treatment of disease in

10 recent years receive appropriate emphasis.

11 (8) The establishment of a National Institute of

12 Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering at the NIH

13 would accelerate the development of new tech14 nologies with clinical and research applications, im15 prove coordination and efficiency at the NIH and

16 throughout the Federal Government, reduce duplica17 tion and waste, lay the foundation for a new medical

18 information age, promote economic development, and

19 provide a structure to train the young researchers

20 who will make the pathbreaking discoveries of the

21 next century.
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1 SEC. 3. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF BIO2 MEDICAL IMAGING AND BIOENGINEERING.

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part C of title IV of the Public

4 Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 285 et seq.) is amended

5 by adding at the end the following subpart:

6 ‘‘Subpart 18—National Institute of Biomedical Imaging

7 and Bioengineering

8 ‘‘PURPOSE OF THE INSTITUTE

9 ‘‘SEC. 464z. (a) The general purpose of the National

10 Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (in

11 this section referred to as the ‘Institute’) is the conduct

12 and support of research, training, the dissemination of

13 health information, and other programs with respect to

14 biomedical imaging, biomedical engineering, and associ15 ated technologies and modalities with biomedical applica16 tions (in this section referred to as ‘biomedical imaging

17 and bioengineering’).

18 ‘‘(b)(1) The Director of the Institute, with the advice

19 of the Institute’s advisory council, shall establish a Na20 tional Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering Program

21 (in this section referred to as the ‘Program’).

22 ‘‘(2) Activities under the Program shall include the

23 following with respect to biomedical imaging and bio24 engineering:

25 ‘‘(A) Research into the development of new

26 techniques and devices.
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1 ‘‘(B) Related research in physics, engineering,

2 mathematics, computer science, and other dis3 ciplines.

4 ‘‘(C) Technology assessments and outcomes

5 studies to evaluate the effectiveness of biologics, ma6 terials, processes, devices, procedures, and

7 informatics.

8 ‘‘(D) Research in screening for diseases and

9 disorders.

10 ‘‘(E) The advancement of existing imaging and

11 bioengineering modalities, including imaging, bio12 materials, and informatics.

13 ‘‘(F) The development of target-specific agents

14 to enhance images and to identify and delineate dis15 ease.

16 ‘‘(G) The development of advanced engineering

17 and imaging technologies and techniques for re18 search from the molecular and genetic to the whole

19 organ and body levels.

20 ‘‘(H) The development of new techniques and

21 devices for more effective interventional procedures

22 (such as image-guided interventions).

23 ‘‘(3)(A) With respect to the Program, the Director

24 of the Institute shall prepare and transmit to the Sec25 retary and the Director of NIH a plan to initiate, expand,
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1 intensify, and coordinate activities of the Institute with re2 spect to biomedical imaging and bioengineering. The plan

3 shall include such comments and recommendations as the

4 Director of the Institute determines appropriate. The Di5 rector of the Institute shall periodically review and revise

6 the plan and shall transmit any revisions of the plan to

7 the Secretary and the Director of NIH.

8 ‘‘(B) The plan under subparagraph (A) shall include

9 the recommendations of the Director of the Institute with

10 respect to the following:

11 ‘‘(i) Where appropriate, the consolidation of

12 programs of the National Institutes of Health for

13 the express purpose of enhancing support of activi14 ties regarding basic biomedical imaging and bio15 engineering research.

16 ‘‘(ii) The coordination of the activities of the

17 Institute with related activities of the other agencies

18 of the National Institutes of Health and with related

19 activities of other Federal agencies.

20 ‘‘(c) The establishment under section 406 of an advi21 sory council for the Institute is subject to the following:

22 ‘‘(1) The number of members appointed by the

23 Secretary shall be 12.

24 ‘‘(2) Of such members—
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1 ‘‘(A) six members shall be scientists, engi2 neers, physicians, and other health professionals

3 who represent disciplines in biomedical imaging

4 and bioengineering and who are not officers or

5 employees of the United States; and

6 ‘‘(B) six members shall be scientists, engi7 neers, physicians, and other health professionals

8 who represent other disciplines and are knowl9 edgeable about the applications of biomedical

10 imaging and bioengineering in medicine, and

11 who are not officers or employees of the United

12 States.

13 ‘‘(3) In addition to the ex officio members spec14 ified in section 406(b)(2), the ex officio members of

15 the advisory council shall include the Director of the

16 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Di17 rector of the National Science Foundation, and the

18 Director of the National Institute of Standards and

19 Technology (or the designees of such officers).

20 ‘‘(d)(1) Subject to paragraph (2), for the purpose of

21 carrying out this section:

22 ‘‘(A) For fiscal year 2001, there is authorized

23 to be appropriated an amount equal to the amount

24 obligated by the National Institutes of Health dur25 ing fiscal year 2000 for biomedical imaging and bio-
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1 engineering, except that such amount shall be ad2 justed to offset any inflation occurring after October

3 1, 1999.

4 ‘‘(B) For each of the fiscal years 2002 and

5 2003, there is authorized to be appropriated an

6 amount equal to the amount appropriated under

7 subparagraph (A) for fiscal year 2001, except that

8 such amount shall be adjusted for the fiscal year in9 volved to offset any inflation occurring after October

10 1, 2000.

11 ‘‘(2) The authorization of appropriations for a fiscal

12 year under paragraph (1) is hereby reduced by the amount

13 of any appropriation made for such year for the conduct

14 or support by any other national research institute of any

15 program with respect to biomedical imaging and bio16 engineering.’’.

17 (b) USE OF EXISTING RESOURCES.—In providing for

18 the establishment of the National Institute of Biomedical

19 Imaging and Bioengineering pursuant to the amendment

20 made by subsection (a), the Director of the National Insti21 tutes of Health (referred to in this subsection as

22 ‘‘NIH’’)—

23 (1) may transfer to the National Institute of

24 Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering such per-
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1 sonnel of NIH as the Director determines to be ap2 propriate;

3 (2) may, for quarters for such Institute, utilize

4 such facilities of NIH as the Director determines to

5 be appropriate; and

6 (3) may obtain administrative support for the

7 Institute from the other agencies of NIH, including

8 the other national research institutes.

9 (c) CONSTRUCTION OF FACILITIES.—None of the

10 provisions of this Act or the amendments made by the Act

11 may be construed as authorizing the construction of facili12 ties, or the acquisition of land, for purposes of the estab13 lishment or operation of the National Institute of Bio14 medical Imaging and Bioengineering.

15 (d) DATE CERTAIN FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF ADVI16 SORY COUNCIL.—Not later than 90 days after the effec17 tive date of this Act under section 4, the Secretary of

18 Health and Human Services shall complete the establish19 ment of an advisory council for the National Institute of

20 Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering in accordance

21 with section 406 of the Public Health Service Act and in

22 accordance with section 464z of such Act (as added by

23 subsection (a) of this section).

24 (e) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 401(b)(1)

25 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 281(b)(1))
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1 is amended by adding at the end the following subpara2 graph:

3 ‘‘(R) The National Institute of Biomedical Im4 aging and Bioengineering.’’.

5 SEC. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE.

6 This Act takes effect October 1, 2000, or upon the

7 date of the enactment of this Act, whichever occurs later.

Passed the House of Representatives September 27,

2000.

Attest:

Clerk.