I 
109TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1108 
To establish the National Center on Liver Disease Research, and for other 
purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 3, 2005 
Mr. LYNCH
(for himself, Mr. KING
of New York, Mr. TOWNS, Mr. 
MCDERMOTT, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. ABERCROMBIE, 
and Mr. CAPUANO) 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 of 2005’’. 
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 $8,800,000,000 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, 3,000,000 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, but now the fastest growing cancer. 
(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 17,600 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 1,400 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 the Liver Re-
search Enhancement Act of 2005, the Director of 
NIH shall establish a board to be known as the 
Liver Disease Research Advisory Board (hereafter 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