I
107TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION
H. R. 5047
To establish the National Center on Liver Disease Research, and for other
purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
JUNE 27, 2002
Mr. DAN MILLER of Florida (for himself and Mr. LYNCH) 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.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Liver Research En-
hancement Act’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds as follows:
(1) An estimated 25,000,000 people in the
United States are affected by a liver or liver-related
disease.
(2) In excess of $5,500,000,000 is spent annu-
ally to provide medical care for people in the United
States with liver disease.
(3) There are over 4,000,000 people in the
United States who are or have been infected with
hepatitis C, 2,700,000 of whom are chronically in-
fected.
(4) Due to limited research, current treatments
for hepatitis C are effective in fewer than 50 percent
of the cases.
(5) A vaccine has not been developed for hepa-
titis C.
(6) There are 8,000 to 10,000 deaths each year
due to hepatitis C, and the annual death total is
projected to increase to 30,000 each year absent in-
creased public health and research interventions.
(7) Chronic infection with hepatitis B or C is
associated with an increased incidence of primary
liver cancer, once a rare malignancy in the United
States.
(8) There are 1,250,000 people in the United
States who have been infected with hepatitis B.
(9) Up to 15 percent of Asian and Pacific-Is-
lander Americans are chronically infected with hepa-
titis B.
(10) Fifteen out of every 100,000 people in the
United States are affected by a chronic, life-threat-
ening disease known as primary biliary cirrhosis
(PBC), and 95 percent of those affected are women.
(11) There is an emerging obesity-related
chronic liver disease, nonalcoholic fatty liver disease
(NAFLD), which may affect as many as 1 in every
4 adults over the age of 18.
(12) There are 15,000 children hospitalized in
the United States each year due to liver disease.
(13) The only option for many individuals with
liver disease is a liver transplant.
(14) There are over 17,500 people in the
United States on the waiting list for a liver trans-
plant, but because of the limited supply of livers
available for transplantation only approximately
5,100 transplants are performed each year.
(15) There are 1,300 people in the United
States who die each year waiting for a liver trans-
plant, and that number is expected to increase.
(16) To address the public health threat posed
by liver disease, there is a need for the establishment
of a National Center on Liver Disease Research to
provide dedicated scientific leadership, to create a
research action plan, and to ensure the funding of
the scientific opportunities identified by the plan.
SEC. 3. NATIONAL CENTER ON LIVER DISEASE RESEARCH.
Subpart 3 of part C of title IV of the Public Health
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 285c, et seq.) is amended by add-
ing at the end the following:
‘‘NATIONAL CENTER ON LIVER DISEASE RESEARCH
‘‘SEC. 434B. (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—There is estab-
lished the National Center on Liver Disease Research
(hereafter in this section referred to as the ‘Center’) in
the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kid-
ney Diseases.
‘‘(b) DIRECTOR.—The Center shall be headed by a
Director, who shall be appointed by the Director of the
Institute, in consultation with the Director of NIH, from
among individuals with the highest scientific credentials.
The Director of the Center shall report directly to the Di-
rector of the Institute.
‘‘(c) DUTIES.—To ensure the development of in-
creased understanding of and better treatments and cures
for liver diseases through a dedicated scientific leadership
and an adequate allocation of resources, the Director
shall—
‘‘(1) assist the Liver Disease Research Advisory
Board to develop the Liver Disease Research Action
Plan; and
‘‘(2) encourage and coordinate the implementa-
tion of the Plan by the national research institutes,
including by issuing research solicitations and by
using all other available mechanisms.
‘‘(d) 
LIVER
DISEASE
RESEARCH
ADVISORY
BOARD.—
‘‘(1) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 90 days
after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Di-
rector of NIH shall establish a board to be known
as the Liver Disease Research Advisory Board (here-
after in this section referred to as the ‘‘Advisory
Board’’).
‘‘(2) DUTIES.—The Advisory Board shall advise
and assist the Director of the Center concerning
matters relating to liver disease research, including
by developing and revising the Liver Disease Re-
search Action Plan in accordance with subsection
(e).
‘‘(3) VOTING MEMBERS.—The Advisory Board
shall be composed of 18 voting members appointed
by the Director of NIH, in consultation with the Di-
rector of the Institute, of whom 12 shall be eminent
scientists and 6 shall be lay persons. The Director
of NIH, in consultation with the Director of the In-
stitute, shall select 1 of the members to serve as the
Chair of the Advisory Board.
‘‘(4) EX OFFICIO MEMBERS.—The Director of
NIH shall appoint each director of a national re-
search institute that funds liver disease research to
serve as a nonvoting, ex officio member of the Advi-
sory Board. The Director of NIH shall invite 1 rep-
resentative of the Centers for Disease Prevention
and Control, 1 representative of the Food and Drug
Administration, and 1 representative of the Depart-
ment of Veterans Affairs to serve as such a member.
Each ex officio member of the Advisory Board may
appoint an individual to serve as that member’s rep-
resentative on the Advisory Board.
‘‘(e) LIVER DISEASE RESEARCH ACTION PLAN.—
‘‘(1) 
DEVELOPMENT.—Not 
later 
than 
months after the date of the enactment of this Act,
the Advisory Board shall develop (with appropriate
support from the Director and staff of the Center)
a comprehensive plan for the conduct and support of
liver disease research to be known as the Liver Dis-
ease Research Action Plan. The Advisory Board
shall submit the Plan to the Director of NIH and
the head of each institute or center within the Na-
tional Institutes of Health that funds liver disease
research.
‘‘(2) CONTENT.—The Liver Disease Research
Action Plan shall identify scientific opportunities
and priorities of liver disease research necessary to
increase understanding of and to prevent, cure, and
develop better treatment protocols for liver diseases.
‘‘(3) REVISION.—The Advisory Board shall re-
vise every 3 years the Liver Disease Research Action
Plan, but shall meet annually to review progress and
to amend the Plan as may be appropriate because
of new scientific discoveries.
‘‘(f) ALLOCATION OF FUNDS.—Subject to the avail-
ability of appropriations, the Director of each institute or
center within the National Institutes of Health shall allo-
cate to liver disease research through peer-reviewed meth-
ods, the amounts necessary to fund existing scientific re-
search opportunities and, subject to completion and subse-
quent updates of the Liver Disease Research Action Plan,
amounts adequate to carry out the recommendations of
the Plan.’’.
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