I 
116TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4519 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize the Director of the 
National Institutes of Health to make awards to outstanding scientists, 
including physician-scientists, to support researchers focusing on pediatric 
research, including basic, clinical, translational, or pediatric pharma-
cological research, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 26, 2019 
Mr. ENGEL (for himself and Mrs. RODGERS of Washington) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 
A BILL 
To amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize the 
Director of the National Institutes of Health to make 
awards to outstanding scientists, including physician-sci-
entists, to support researchers focusing on pediatric re-
search, including basic, clinical, translational, or pediatric 
pharmacological 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 ‘‘Pediatricians Accel-
erate Childhood Therapies Act of 2019’’ or the ‘‘PACT 
Act of 2019’’. 
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SEC. 2. TRANS-NIH AWARDS FOR EARLY-CAREER PEDI-
ATRIC RESEARCHERS. 
Part G of title IV of the Public Health Service Act 
(42 U.S.C. 288 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end 
the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 489A. TRANS-NIH AWARDS FOR EARLY-CAREER PEDI-
ATRIC RESEARCHERS. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Director of the NIH shall 
make awards to outstanding scientists, including physi-
cian-scientists, to support researchers focusing on pedi-
atric research, including basic, clinical, translational, or 
pediatric pharmacological research. 
‘‘(b) PRIORITY RESEARCH TOPIC AREAS.—In car-
rying out subsection (a), the Director of NIH, in consulta-
tion with the Director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver Na-
tional Institute of Child Health and Human Development 
and the directors of other national research institutes and 
national centers that participate within the Trans-NIH 
Pediatric Research Consortium, shall— 
‘‘(1) establish priority research topic areas, in-
formed by external stakeholders including research 
institutions, research societies, patient organizations, 
and industry; and 
‘‘(2) consider opportunities to align such pri-
ority pediatric research topic areas with current and 
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future priorities of the National Institutes of Health, 
including— 
‘‘(A) childhood cancer; 
‘‘(B) precision medicine, genetics, and 
genomics; 
‘‘(C) rare diseases and disorders, such as 
sickle cell disease, and other diseases and dis-
orders with significant unmet training needs; 
‘‘(D) fetal, placental, and neonatal develop-
ment; and 
‘‘(E) child and adolescent mental health. 
‘‘(c) PRIORITY AWARDS.—In making awards under 
this section, the Director of NIH shall— 
‘‘(1) give priority to researchers, including phy-
sician-scientists, who have a demonstrated pro-
ficiency in conducting pediatric research, but have 
not yet achieved research independence at the time 
of their application; and 
‘‘(2) give special consideration to researchers 
from populations that are historically underrep-
resented in pediatric medical research. 
‘‘(d) REQUIREMENTS.—The Director of NIH— 
‘‘(1) shall require recipients of awards under 
this section to use such awards to support pediatric 
research activities, including costs associated with 
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laboratory staff and other costs associated with the 
conduct of research; and 
‘‘(2) may allow recipients of awards under this 
section to use such awards for costs associated with 
receiving guidance and training from senior re-
searchers as necessary to help such recipients reach 
a state of research independence, including con-
ferences and other meeting participation. 
‘‘(e) SUPPLEMENT, NOT SUPPLANT.—Awards made 
under this section shall be used to supplement, and not 
supplant, other funding for research career development 
awards.’’. 
SEC. 3. TRANS-NIH PEDIATRIC CONSORTIUM. 
Title IV of the Public Health Service is amended by 
inserting after section 409D (42 U.S.C. 284h) the fol-
lowing new section: 
‘‘SEC. 409D–1. TRANS-NIH PEDIATRIC CONSORTIUM. 
‘‘(a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Director of NIH shall 
establish and maintain a consortium to be known as the 
Trans-NIH Pediatric Research Consortium (in this sec-
tions referred to as the ‘Consortium’) to coordinate pedi-
atric research programs across the National Institutes of 
Health. 
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‘‘(b) MEMBERSHIP.——The members of the Consor-
tium shall consist of representatives of multiple national 
research institutes and national centers. 
‘‘(c) CHAIR.—The Chair of the Consortium shall be 
the Director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National In-
stitute of Child Health and Human Development (or the 
Director’s designee). 
‘‘(d) DUTIES.—In coordinating pediatric research 
programs across the National Institutes of Health, the 
Consortium shall— 
‘‘(1) establish pediatric research priorities; 
‘‘(2) identify gaps and opportunities for re-
search collaborations involving multiple national re-
search institutes and national centers; and 
‘‘(3) identify opportunities to develop the next 
generation of pediatric researchers. 
‘‘(e) CONSULTATION.—The Consortium shall consult 
regularly with external experts in the field of pediatric re-
search, including children’s hospitals, children’s research 
institutions, patient organizations, and other stake-
holders.’’. 
Æ 
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