---
kind: "section"
citation: "42 U.S.C. § 289c"
title: "42"
title_heading: "The Public Health and Welfare"
number: "289c"
heading: "Research on public health emergencies"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/42/289c"
units:
  - "Chapter 6A — Public Health Service"
  - "Subchapter III — National Research Institutes"
  - "Part H — General Provisions"
---

# §289c. Research on public health emergencies


If the [Secretary](/usc/42/201.md?p=c) determines, after consultation with the [Director](/usc/42/11851.md?p=5) of NIH, the Commissioner of the Food and [Drug](/usc/42/11851.md?p=4) Administration, or the [Director](/usc/42/11851.md?p=5) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that a disease or disorder constitutes a public health emergency, the [Secretary](/usc/42/201.md?p=c), acting through the [Director](/usc/42/11851.md?p=5) of NIH—

- (1) shall expedite the review by [advisory councils](/usc/42/274l–1.md?p=1) under [section 284a of this title](/usc/42/284a.md) and by peer review groups under [section 289a of this title](/usc/42/289a.md) of applications for grants for research on such disease or disorder or proposals for contracts for such research;
- (2) shall exercise the authority in [section 6101 of title 41](/usc/41/6101.md) respecting public exigencies to waive the advertising requirements of such section in the case of proposals for contracts for such research;
- (3) may provide administrative supplemental increases in existing grants and contracts to support new research relevant to such disease or disorder; and
- (4) shall disseminate, to health professionals and the public, information on the cause, prevention, and [treatment](/usc/42/11851.md?p=11) of such disease or disorder that has been developed in research assisted under this section.

The amount of an increase in a grant or contract provided under [paragraph (3)](#3) may not exceed one-half the original amount of the grant or contract.


## Source credit

(July 1, 1944, ch. 373, title IV, § 494, as added Pub. L. 99–158, § 2, Nov. 20, 1985, 99 Stat. 875; amended Pub. L. 102–531, title III, § 312(d)(9), Oct. 27, 1992, 106 Stat. 3504; Pub. L. 109–482, title I, § 104(b)(1)(P), Jan. 15, 2007, 120 Stat. 3693.)

## Notes

### Editorial Notes

### Codification

In par. (2), “section 6101 of title 41” substituted for “section 3709 of the Revised Statutes (41 U.S.C. 5)” on authority of Pub. L. 111–350, § 6(c), Jan. 4, 2011, 124 Stat. 3854, which Act enacted Title 41, Public Contracts.

### Amendments

2007—Pub. L. 109–482 struck out subsec. (a) designation before “If the Secretary” and subsec. (b) which read as follows: “Not later than 90 days after the end of a fiscal year, the Secretary shall report to the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Labor and Human Resources of the Senate on actions taken under subsection (a) of this section in such fiscal year.”

1992—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 102–531 substituted “Centers for Disease Control and Prevention” for “Centers for Disease Control”.

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Effective Date of 2007 Amendment

Amendment by Pub. L. 109–482 applicable only with respect to amounts appropriated for fiscal year 2007 or subsequent fiscal years, see section 109 of Pub. L. 109–482, set out as a note under section 281 of this title.