42 U.S.C. § 284i — Autoimmune diseases

(a) Expansion, intensification, and coordination of activities. (1) The Director of NIH must expand, intensify, and coordinate NIH's research and other activities on autoimmune diseases. (2) For money appropriated to carry out this section in a given year, the Director must divide it among the national research institutes doing this work. (3) "Autoimmune disease" includes any disease or disorder that shows signs of autoimmune origin, as the Secretary decides is appropriate. (b) Coordinating Committee. (1) The Secretary must make sure the Autoimmune Diseases Coordinating Committee coordinates activities across the National Institutes and with other federal health programs on these diseases. (2) The Committee is made up of the directors (or their designees) of every national research institute involved in autoimmune disease research, plus representatives from other federal agencies with related health duties, including the CDC and FDA. (3)(A) The Committee's Chair serves as the main advisor to the Secretary, the Assistant Secretary for Health, and the NIH Director on autoimmune diseases, and also advises the CDC Director, the FDA Commissioner, and other relevant agencies. (B) The Chair reports directly to the Director of NIH. (c) Plan for NIH activities. (1) Within 1 year of October 17, 2000, the Coordinating Committee had to build a plan for research and education on autoimmune diseases across the national research institutes, and must periodically review and revise it. The plan must: (A) cover a broad range of biomedical, psychosocial, and rehabilitative research and education, including how these diseases disproportionately affect women; (B) set priorities among NIH's autoimmune-disease programs; and (C) reflect input from a wide range of scientists, patients, and advocacy groups. (2) As appropriate, the plan must cover: (A) research into why these diseases occur and how common they are; (B) basic research into their causes; (C) studies of how often they occur and their natural course, including differences by sex, race, and ethnicity; (D) developing better screening methods; (E) clinical research to develop and test new treatments, including new biological drugs; and (F) information and education programs for health professionals and the public. (3) The Director of NIH must ensure that NIH's autoimmune-disease programs follow this plan.