Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Advancing Precision Medicine Act of 2016”.
Advancing Precision Medicine Act of 2016
A BILL
To provide for the implementation of a Precision Medicine Initiative.
Sec. 2 Precision medicine initiative
In general— The Secretary of Health and Human Services (referred to in this section as the “Secretary”) is encouraged to establish and carry out an initiative, to be known as the “Precision Medicine Initiative”, to augment efforts to address disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.
Components— The Initiative described under subsection (a) may include—
developing a network of scientists to assist in carrying out the purposes of the Initiative;
developing new approaches for addressing scientific, medical, public health, and regulatory science issues;
applying genomic technologies to provide data on the molecular basis of disease;
collecting information voluntarily provided by a diverse cohort of individuals that can be used to better understand health and disease; and
other activities determined appropriate by the Secretary to advance the goals of the Initiative.
Authority of the Secretary— In carrying out this section, the Secretary may—
coordinate with the Secretary of Energy, private industry, and others determined appropriate by the Secretary to identify and address the advanced supercomputing needs for the Initiative described under subsection (a);
develop and utilize public-private partnerships; and
leverage existing data sources.
Requirements— In the implementation of the Initiative under subsection (a), the Secretary shall—
ensure the collaboration of the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, and the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology;
comply with existing laws and regulations for the protection of human subjects involved in research, including the protection of participant privacy;
implement policies and mechanisms for appropriate secure data sharing across systems that include protections for privacy and security of data; and
consider the diversity of the cohort to ensure inclusion of a broad range of participants, including consideration of biological, social, and other determinants of health that contribute to health disparities.