GENERAL CLINICAL RESEARCH CENTERS.

SEC. 204. GENERAL CLINICAL RESEARCH CENTERS. (a) Grants.—Subpart 1 of part E of title IV of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 287 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: “SEC. 481C. GENERAL CLINICAL RESEARCH CENTERS. “(a) Grants.—The Director of the National Center for Research Resources shall award grants for the establishment of general clinical research centers to provide the infrastructure for clinical research including clinical research training and career enhancement. Such centers shall support clinical studies and career development in all settings of the hospital or academic medical center involved. “(b) Activities.—In carrying out subsection (a), the Director of National Institutes of Health shall expand the activities of the general clinical research centers through the increased use of telecommunications and telemedicine initiatives. “(c) Authorization of Appropriations.—For the purpose of carrying out this section, there are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary for each fiscal year.”. (b) Enhancement Awards.—Part B of title IV of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 284 et seq.), as amended by section 203, is further amended by adding at the end the following: “SEC. 409D. ENHANCEMENT AWARDS. “(a) Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Awards.— “(1) Grants.— “(A) In general.—The Director of the National Institutes of Health shall make grants (to be referred to as ‘Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Development Awards’) to support individual careers in clinical research at general clinical research centers or at other institutions that have the infrastructure and resources deemed appropriate for conducting patient-oriented clinical research. “(B) Use.—Grants under subparagraph (A) shall be used to support clinical investigators in the early phases of their independent careers by providing salary and such other support for a period of supervised study. “(2) Applications.—An application for a grant under this subsection shall be submitted by an individual scientist at such time as the Director may require. “(3) Authorization of appropriations.—For the purpose of carrying out this subsection, there are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary for each fiscal year. “(b) Mid-Career Investigator Awards in Patient-Oriented Research.— “(1) Grants.— “(A) In general.—The Director of the National Institutes of Health shall make grants (to be referred to as ‘Mid-Career Investigator Awards in Patient-Oriented Research’) to support individual clinical research projects 114 STAT. 2328at general clinical research centers or at other institutions that have the infrastructure and resources deemed appropriate for conducting patient-oriented clinical research. “(B) Use.—Grants under subparagraph (A) shall be used to provide support for mid-career level clinicians to allow such clinicians to devote time to clinical research and to act as mentors for beginning clinical investigators. “(2) Applications.—An application for a grant under this subsection shall be submitted by an individual scientist at such time as the Director requires. “(3) Authorization of appropriations.—For the purpose of carrying out this subsection, there are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary for each fiscal year. “(c) Graduate Training in Clinical Investigation Award.— “(1) In general.—The Director of the National Institutes of Health shall make grants (to be referred to as ‘Graduate Training in Clinical Investigation Awards’) to support individuals pursuing master’s or doctoral degrees in clinical investigation. “(2) Applications.—An application for a grant under this subsection shall be submitted by an individual scientist at such time as the Director may require. “(3) Limitations.—Grants under this subsection shall be for terms of 2 years or more and shall provide stipend, tuition, and institutional support for individual advanced degree programs in clinical investigation. “(4) Definition.—As used in this subsection, the term ‘advanced degree programs in clinical investigation’ means programs that award a master’s or Ph.D. degree in clinical investigation after 2 or more years of training in areas such as the following: “(A) Analytical methods, biostatistics, and study design. “(B) Principles of clinical pharmacology and pharmacokinetics. “(C) Clinical epidemiology. “(D) Computer data management and medical informatics. “(E) Ethical and regulatory issues. “(F) Biomedical writing. “(5) Authorization of Appropriations.—For the purpose of carrying out this subsection, there are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary for each fiscal year. “(d) Clinical Research Curriculum Awards.— “(1) In general.—The Director of the National Institutes of Health shall make grants (to be referred to as ‘Clinical Research Curriculum Awards’) to institutions for the development and support of programs of core curricula for training clinical investigators, including medical students. Such core curricula may include training in areas such as the following: “(A) Analytical methods, biostatistics, and study design. “(B) Principles of clinical pharmacology and pharmacokinetics. “(C) Clinical epidemiology.114 STAT. 2329 “(D) Computer data management and medical informatics. “(E) Ethical and regulatory issues. “(F) Biomedical writing. “(2) Applications.—An application for a grant under this subsection shall be submitted by an individual institution or a consortium of institutions at such time as the Director may require. An institution may submit only one such application. “(3) Limitations.—Grants under this subsection shall be for terms of up to 5 years and may be renewable. “(4) Authorization of appropriations.—For the purpose of carrying out this subsection, there are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary for each fiscal year.