Missed Opportunities in Public Health and Biomedical Research Act of 2020

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 7544 To amend the Public Health Service Act to require reporting by the National Institutes of Health on requests for funding research that were not granted and had the greatest potential for improving public health, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 9, 2020 Mr. LEWIS (for himself, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mr. GRIJALVA, and Ms. JACK- SON LEE) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To amend the Public Health Service Act to require reporting by the National Institutes of Health on requests for funding research that were not granted and had the greatest potential for improving public health, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Missed Opportunities 4 in Public Health and Biomedical Research Act of 2020’’. 5 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 6 Congress finds the following: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:52 Jul 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7544.IH H7544 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 7544 IH (1) Biomedical research sponsored by the Na- 1 tional Institutes of Health (refered to in this section 2 as the ‘‘NIH’’) provides numerous treatments and 3 discoveries that improve and save lives, defend the 4 Nation against bioterrorism and emerging 5 pandemics, strengthen the national economy, and 6 support the next generation of researchers in the 7 United States. 8 (2) While the NIH is the largest source of 9 funding for medical research in the world, the per- 10 centage of grants awarded has fallen over the last 11 20 years. 12 (3) The NIH Center for Scientific Review 13 works with over 25,000 expert reviewers and applies 14 the highest level of scientific and ethical standards 15 to almost 50,000 competitive grant applications 16 every year. 17 (4) The NIH’s peer review process is a time- 18 tested and proven method of identifying the most 19 promising biomedical research proposals. 20 SEC. 3. ANNUAL REPORTING BY NIH ON MISSED OPPORTU- 21 NITIES. 22 The Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 201 et 23 seq.) is amended by inserting after section 403D of such 24 Act (42 U.S.C. 283a–3) the following: 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:52 Jul 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7544.IH H7544 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 7544 IH ‘‘SEC. 403E. ANNUAL REPORTING ON MISSED OPPORTUNI- 1 TIES. 2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than the last day of 3 the first fiscal quarter following the end of each fiscal 4 year, the Director of NIH shall submit a report to Con- 5 gress identifying, with respect to each national research 6 institute, each national center, and the Office of the Direc- 7 tor of NIH— 8 ‘‘(1) the success rate of research project grant 9 applications reviewed during such fiscal year; 10 ‘‘(2) the top two research project grant applica- 11 tions reviewed during such fiscal year that were not 12 funded; and 13 ‘‘(3) if the success rate described in paragraph 14 (1) is lower than 32 percent, the top research 15 project grant applications that were reviewed and 16 could have been funded to achieve a success rate of 17 at least 32 percent. 18 ‘‘(b) TRADE SECRETS AND CONFIDENTIAL INFORMA- 19 TION; RESEARCHER NAMES.—This section does not au- 20 thorize the Secretary to disclose— 21 ‘‘(1) any information that is a trade secret or 22 confidential information subject to section 552(b)(4) 23 of title 5, United States Code, or section 1905 of 24 title 18, United States Code; or 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:52 Jul 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7544.IH H7544 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 7544 IH ‘‘(2) the names of the researchers proposed to 1 carry out research pursuant to unfunded research 2 project grant applications described in subsection 3 (a). 4 ‘‘(c) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 5 ‘‘(1) The term ‘success rate’ means the percent- 6 age of research project grant applications reviewed 7 during the respective fiscal year that received fund- 8 ing. 9 ‘‘(2) The term ‘top’ means having the greatest 10 potential for— 11 ‘‘(A) improving public health; 12 ‘‘(B) advancing biomedical and behavioral 13 research; and 14 ‘‘(C) increasing fundamental knowledge 15 about the nature and behavior of living systems, 16 and the application of that knowledge towards 17 enhancing health, lengthening life, and reducing 18 illness and disability.’’. 19 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 18:52 Jul 29, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H7544.IH H7544 pamtmann on DSKBC07HB2PROD with BILLS