Title: PACT Act of 2019
Policy area: Health

Summary:
Pediatricians Accelerate Childhood Therapies Act of 2019 or the PACT Act of 2019  This bill provides statutory authority for the Trans-National Institutes of Health (NIH) Pediatric Research Consortium to coordinate pediatric research across national health research institutions. The consortium, chaired by the director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, must develop priorities for the NIH to award research grants to early career pediatric researchers, including physician-scientists and researchers from underrepresented populations.

[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 3023 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 3023

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.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           December 11, 2019

  Ms. Ernst (for herself, Mr. Coons, Mrs. Hyde-Smith, Mr. Casey, Mr. 
Wicker, Mr. Bennet, and Mr. Brown) introduced the following bill; which 
  was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 
                          Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 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-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 2019'' or the ``PACT Act of 2019''.

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 
researchers focusing on pediatric research, including basic, clinical, 
translational, or pediatric pharmacological research.
    ``(b) 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) childhood cancer;
                    ``(B) precision medicine, genetics, and genomics;
                    ``(C) rare diseases and disorders, such as sickle 
                cell disease, and other diseases and disorders with 
                significant unmet training needs;
                    ``(D) fetal, placental, and neonatal development; 
                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 physician-
        scientists, who have a demonstrated proficiency 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 underrepresented 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 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 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 
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 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.''.
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