Proposed NIH Reform Concepts Endorsed By Committee Members, Zerhouni

WASHINGTON - A proposal to allow greater coordination of medical research and to streamline reporting requirements at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) won the bipartisan support of a number of U.S. Representatives and NIH Director Elias A. Zerhouni, M.D., at a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee on Tuesday.

U.S. Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, chairman of the panel, said reauthorizing the NIH is a "very high priority for me. We've doubled the agency's budget but have not done anything to improve management."

The committee has circulated a discussion draft of what would be the first NIH reauthorization bill since 1993. The legislation would:

• Streamline reporting requirements. Current law mandates that the NIH produce thousands of pages of reports from each of the research institutes and centers. The proposal will replace that system with a biennial report or "roadmap" that comprehensively lays out the strategic plans and research activities of the agency.
• Let the director direct. Provides the director with the flexibility to move dollars among the 27 institutes and centers to encourage promising research opportunities as they arise, not whenever the federal budget process allows.
• Provide clear organization and direction. The bill would place the fragmented 27 NIH institutes and centers into one of two categories - mission specific institutes and science enabling institutes, and establish a Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives in the Office of the Director.

Zerhouni welcomed the draft bill, saying "the landscape has changed over the past 12 years and we need to adapt. The committee concept is a good one."

Zerhouni specifically cited the "functional consolidation" of the agency from 27 diverse entities into two specific areas. He endorsed another key concept of the legislation - empowering the NIH director with greater flexibility to target resources to strategic research initiatives or for emergency response needs.

A clear, bipartisan majority of the committee also welcomed the draft NIH legislation, saying Congress has gone too long without reauthorizing such an important government agency.

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