1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the “YES to Cures Act of 2014”.
YES to Cures Act of 2014
A BILL
To amend title IV of the Public Health Service Act to allocate additional funding through the Common Fund for research by emerging scientists.
2. Funding research by emerging scientists through Common Fund
in clause (i), by striking “and” at the end;
by redesignating clause (ii) as clause (iii); and
by inserting after clause (i) the following:
“(ii) shall, with respect to funds reserved under section 402A(c)(1)(C) for the Common Fund, allocate such funds to the national research institutes and national centers for conducting and supporting research that is identified under subparagraph (A) and is carried out by one or more emerging scientists (as defined in section 402A(c)(1)(C)(iv)); and”
Reservation of funds— Section 402A(c)(1) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 282a(c)(1)) is amended—
by redesignating subparagraphs (C) and (D) as subparagraphs (D) and (E), respectively; and
by inserting after subparagraph (B) the following:
“(C) Additional reservation for research by emerging scientists
“(i) Inapplicability of tap for evaluation activities—Beginning with fiscal year 2015, funds appropriated to the National Institutes of Health shall not be subject to section 241.
“(ii) Reservation—In addition to the amounts reserved for the Common Fund under subparagraph (B) and amounts appropriated to the Common Fund under subsection (a)(2), the Director of NIH shall reserve an amount for the Common Fund for fiscal year 2015 and each subsequent fiscal year that is equal to the amount that, but for clause (i), would be made available under section 241 for evaluation activities for such fiscal year.
“(iii) Purpose of reservation—Amounts reserved under clause (ii) shall be used for the purpose of carrying out section 402(b)(7)(B)(ii) (relating to the conduct and support of research that is identified under section 402A(b)(7)(A) and is carried out by one or more emerging scientists).
“(iv) Definition—In this subparagraph, the term emerging scientist means an investigator who—
“(I) will be the principal investigator or the program director of the proposed research;
“(II) has never been awarded, or has been awarded only once, a substantial, competing grant by the National Institutes of Health for independent research; and
“(III) is within 15 years of having completed—
“(aa) the investigator’s terminal degree; or
“(bb) a medical residency (or the equivalent).”
Supplement, not supplant; prohibition against transfer— Funds reserved pursuant to section 402A(c)(1)(C) of the Public Health Service Act, as added by subsection (b)—
shall be used to supplement, not supplant, the funds otherwise allocated by the National Institutes of Health for young investigators; and
notwithstanding any transfer authority in any appropriation Act, shall not be used for any purpose other than allocating funds as described in section 402(b)(7)(B)(ii) of the Public Health Service Act, as added by subsection (a).
Conforming amendments—
Section 241(a) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 238j(a)) is amended by striking “Such portion” and inserting “Subject to section 402A(c)(1)(C)(i), such portion”.
Section 402A(a)(2) of the Public Health Service Act is amended—
by striking “402(b)(7)(B)(ii)” and inserting “402(b)(7)(B)(iii)”; and
by striking “reserved under subsection (c)(1)(B)(i)” and inserting “reserved under subparagraph (B)(i) or (C)(ii) of subsection (c)(1)”.
Section 3(c)(2) of the Gabriella Miller Kids First Research Act (Public Law 113–94) is amended by striking “402(b)(7)(B)(ii) of the Public Health Service Act, as added by subsection (a)” and inserting “402(b)(7)(B)(iii) of the Public Health Service Act, as added by subsection (a) and redesignated by section 2(a) of the YES to Cures Act of 2014”.
Rule of construction— Nothing in this Act (and the amendments made by this Act) is intended to affect the amount of funds authorized to be appropriated to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
3. Report on trends in age of recipients of NIH-funded major research grants
Not later than six months after the date of enactment of this Act, the Director of the National Institutes of Health shall submit a report to the Congress—
explaining why, over the 30-year period preceding the enactment of this Act—
there has been a substantial increase in the age of investigators receiving their first major research grant from the National Institutes of Health;
there has been a substantial increase in the average age of all recipients of major research grants from the National Institutes of Health; and
there has been a dramatic drop in the number of investigators under 40 years of age receiving major research grants from the National Institutes of Health; and
describing—
the steps taken by the National Institutes of Health in recent years to address the trends identified in paragraph (1); and
the impact of taking such steps.