‘‘(A) Providing grants of not less than 5- 
years’ duration to eligible consortia for the pur-
pose of conducting research with respect to the 
causes of, risk factors and biomarkers associ-
ated with, and treatment of and comorbidities 
associated with, NMOSD. 
‘‘(B) Assembling a panel of experts to pro-
vide, with respect to research funded by the 
NMOSD Consortium, ongoing guidance and 
recommendations for the development of the 
following: 
‘‘(i) A standardized study design, in-
cluding adaptive clinical trial structures 
that may quickly and efficiently evaluate 
multiple treatment regimens to optimize 
precision and effectively assess personal-
ized medicine in rare and immunologic dis-
eases. 
‘‘(ii) Standard protocols, methods, 
procedures, and assays for collecting from 
individuals enrolled as study participants a 
minimum dataset that includes the fol-
lowing: 
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‘‘(I) Complete medical history, 
including autoimmune and nonauto-
immune comorbidities. 
‘‘(II) Neurologic examination and 
standardization of critical clinical out-
comes such as the definition and adju-
dication of relapse in NMOSD. 
‘‘(III) Biospecimens, including 
serum, blood cells, cerebrospinal fluid, 
DNA, and RNA. 
‘‘(IV) Radiological data, includ-
ing 
magnetic 
resonance 
imaging 
(MRI) and optical coherence tomog-
raphy, among other modalities. 
‘‘(iii) Specific analytical methods for 
examining data, including bioinformatic 
and computational modeling for deter-
ministic as well as predictive capabilities. 
‘‘(iv) Provisions for consensus review 
of enrolled cases, including clinical trial 
data as well as off-label drug use and epi-
demiologic studies that would be offer 
greater insights if considered in aggregate 
than alone. 
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‘‘(v) An integrated data collection net-
work, including registry and other activi-
ties that improve scientific and clinical effi-
ciencies in achieving the purposes outlined 
in this paragraph. 
‘‘(C) Designating a consortium-dedicated 
laboratory to collect, analyze, and aggregate 
data with respect to research funded by the 
NMOSD Consortium and to make such data 
and analysis available to researchers. 
‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE CONSORTIA.—To be eligible for 
a grant under this section, a consortium shall dem-
onstrate the following: 
‘‘(A) The consortium has the capability to 
enroll as research participants a minimum of 25 
individuals with a diagnosis of NMO from the 
consortium’s designated catchment area. 
‘‘(B) The designated catchment area of the 
consortium does not overlap with the designated 
catchment area of another consortium already 
receiving a grant under this section. 
‘‘(4) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the 
date of the enactment of this section, and annually 
thereafter, the Secretary, acting through the Direc-
tor of NIH, shall submit to Congress a report with 
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respect to the NMOSD Consortium, to be made pub-
licly available, including a summary of research 
funded by the NMOSD Consortium and a list of 
consortia receiving grants through the NMOSD Con-
sortium. At the discretion of the Secretary, such re-
port may be combined with other similar or existing 
reports. 
‘‘(5) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to 
be appropriated $25,000,000 for each of fiscal 
years 2021 through 2024, to remain available 
until expended, to carry out this section. 
‘‘(B) SENSE
OF
CONGRESS.—It is the 
sense of Congress that funds appropriated to 
carry out this section should be in addition to 
funds otherwise available or appropriated to 
carry out the activities described in this section. 
‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 
‘‘(1) CATCHMENT AREA.—The term ‘catchment 
area’ means a defined area for which population 
data are available. 
‘‘(2) CONSORTIUM.—The term ‘consortium’ 
means a partnership of two or more universities, 
health care organizations, or government agencies, 
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or any combination of such entities, serving a des-
ignated catchment area.’’. 
Æ 
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