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Summary of NIH Reform Act of 2006
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Establishes a Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic
Initiatives (currently called "Office of Portfolio Analysis and Strategic
Initiatives," or “OPASI”) to
- assist Director in
identifying research important to the advancement of biomedical
science that involves the responsibilities of more than one NIH institute or center (“trans-NIH research”)
- “Trans-NIH research” may include important areas of emerging
scientific opportunities, rising public health challenges, or
knowledge gaps that deserve special emphasis and would benefit from
additional research that involves collaboration between two or more
Institutes or Centers or would otherwise benefit from strategic
coordination and planning.
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Creates a “Common Fund”
- With the enactment of the NIH Reform Act of
2006 (NIH Reauthorization), the “Common Fund” was established to
support “trans-NIH” initiatives (including the “NIH Roadmap for
Medical Research”) and was described as “an incubator for new ideas
and initiatives that will accelerate the pace of discovery,” and whose
initiatives “are focused on efforts that no single or small group of
Institutes or Centers could conduct on their own, and have potential
to transform biomedical and behavioral research.”
- Institutes and Centers
may draw funds
- Must preserve
an emphasis on investigator-initiated RPGs (will allow PIs who submit
applications involving inter-Institute collaborations to designate
Common Fund eligible proposals)
- Requires
Director to ensure that new PI applicants get appropriate
consideration of proposals
- Must
have a minimal level of funding (a “floor”) at all times. Percent
reserved for CF may not be less than percent reserved during previous
fiscal year. Once CF reaches 5% of NIH budget, NIH Director, in
consultation with an advisory council, must recommend to Congress any
changes to amount reserved for CF. Requires a report to Congress every
two years, outlining ways to efficiently maximize the potential of
research activities supported by CF.
- Common Fund
Budget
| • FY 2007: $415
million |
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| • FY 2008: $495
million |
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| • FY 2009:
(President’s Budget) $534 million |
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On April 22, 2008, NIH
issued a
“Request for Information (RFI): To Solicit Ideas for Common Fund /
Roadmap Trans-NIH Strategic Initiatives” (Notice Number:
NOT-RM-08-014)
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Establishes an advisory
“Council of Councils”
- will review trans-NIH proposals and make recommendations regarding
what should be funded
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Authorizes a 7% increase
for Fiscal Year (FY) 2007, 8% increase for FY 2008 and authorizes “such
sums as necessary for FY 2009
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Retains Appropriators’ ability to fund individual Institutes and
Centers
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Creates a “Scientific Management Review Group” of IC directors/other
scientific experts to evaluate structural design of existing/proposed
ICs, and recommend any changes; establishes formal, public process to
take place every 7 years.
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Establishes a new comprehensive electronic reporting system to
catalogue all NIH research activities in a standardized form.
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NIH is currently engaged in a new
project to classify research:
“Research, Condition, and Disease Categorization (RCDC).” NIH has
historically reported annually to Congress/the public how much funding
is allocated to approximately 360 research and disease categories.
Congress and NIH have used this data to better understand NIH
research spending and priority areas. Each Institute and Center has
assigned its grants to these categories based on its own
interpretation of the category definition.
- RCDC will
address NIH concerns that this method of assigning grants has led to
“inaccurate and incomplete reporting”. The RCDC will standardize and
facilitate budget reporting by using text mining techniques to
classify NIH grant applications into proper research and disease
categories. If this project is successful, it will help increase
transparency in the NIH research portfolio.
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Establishes new reporting requirements
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Requires Director to report biennially on NIH strategic plans and
research activities
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