PACT Act of 2021
Bill: S.1357 | Sponsor: Sen. Ernst, Joni (R-IA)
Policy area: Health

Summary:
Pediatricians Accelerate Childhood Therapies Act of 2021 or the PACT Act of 2021
This bill requires the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to make awards to support early-career pediatric researchers. It also provides statutory authority for the Trans-NIH Pediatric Research Consortium to coordinate pediatric research across national health research institutions.

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 pharmacological research, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Pediatricians Accelerate Childhood 
Therapies Act of 2021'' or the ``PACT Act of 2021''.

SEC. 2. TRANS-NIH AWARDS FOR EARLY-CAREER PEDIATRIC 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 PEDIATRIC RESEARCHERS.

    ``(a) In General.--The Director of the NIH shall make awards to 
outstanding scientists, including physician-scientists, to support 
early-career researchers focusing on pediatric research, including 
basic, clinical, translational, or pediatric pharmacological research.
    ``(b) Priority Research Populations.--In carrying out subsection 
(a), the Director of NIH may prioritize the issuance of awards to 
applicants who--
            ``(1) are individual researchers presenting qualifying 
        applications and representing populations that have been 
        historically underrepresented in pediatric medical research, 
        including women and underrepresented racial minorities; or
            ``(2) are institutions of higher education that are 
        eligible to receive funds under part A or B of title III of the 
        Higher Education Act of 1965, part A or B of title V of such 
        Act, or subpart 4 of part A of title VII of such Act, or 
        research institutions partnering with such institutions of 
        higher education to offer programs to support early-career 
        pediatric researchers.
    ``(c) Priority Research Topic Areas.--In carrying out subsection 
(a), the Director of NIH, in consultation with the Director of the 
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National 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, informed by 
        external stakeholders, including research institutions, 
        research societies, patient organizations, and industry; and
            ``(2) consider opportunities to align such priority 
        pediatric research topic areas with current and future 
        priorities of the National Institutes of Health, including--
                    ``(A) pediatric and adolescent mental and 
                behavioral health, including addiction medicine;
                    ``(B) childhood cancer;
                    ``(C) precision medicine, genetics, and genomics;
                    ``(D) rare diseases and disorders, such as sickle 
                cell disease, and other diseases and disorders with 
                significant unmet training needs; and
                    ``(E) fetal, placental, and neonatal development.
    ``(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 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 researchers and mentors, as necessary 
        to help such recipients reach a state of research independence, 
        including conferences and other meeting participation.
    ``(e) Supplement, Not Supplant.--Awards made under this section 
shall be used to supplement, and not supplant, other funding for 
pediatric research and 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 following 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 sections referred to as the `Consortium') to 
coordinate pediatric research programs across the National Institutes 
of Health.
    ``(b) Membership.--The members of the Consortium 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 Institute 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 research 
        collaborations involving multiple national research 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 research, including 
children's hospitals, children's research institutions, patient 
organizations, and other stakeholders.
    ``(f) Reporting.--Beginning one year after the date of enactment of 
the Pediatricians Accelerate Childhood Therapies Act of 2021 and every 
2 years thereafter, the Consortium shall submit to Congress, and make 
publicly available on the website of the National Institutes of Health, 
a report on--
            ``(1) any research project involving pediatrics and 
        involving more than one Institute or Center that was supported 
        during the review period;
            ``(2) any strategic initiatives that include a significant 
        pediatric component;
            ``(3) career development awards for early-career 
        researchers focused in pediatrics, including specific numbers 
        of awards and amount of funding, made during the review period;
            ``(4) details on the composition of awards for early-career 
        researchers, including demographic details indicating the 
        proportion of recipients from populations that have been 
        underrepresented in pediatric medical research; and
            ``(5) such other information as the Director of NIH 
        determines appropriate.''.
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