42 U.S.C. § 300cc–40 — Establishment of Office

(a) In general: This section creates an office inside the National Institutes of Health called the Office of AIDS Research. A director, appointed by the Secretary, leads the Office. (b) Duties: The Director has three main jobs. (1) Interagency coordination of AIDS activities: the Director must plan, coordinate, and evaluate all AIDS research and related activities that the various NIH agencies run or fund. As part of this, the Director must evaluate each agency's AIDS work and keep re-evaluating it over time. (2) Consultations: the Director must carry out this part of the law — including writing and updating the plan required under section 300cc–40c — by consulting with the heads of the NIH agencies, their advisory councils, and the advisory council set up under section 300cc–40b. (3) Coordination: the Director is the main federal official in charge of overseeing all AIDS research that NIH conducts or supports. This means the Director must (A) represent the NIH AIDS Research Program at relevant task forces and committees across the Executive Branch, and (B) stay in communication with relevant Public Health Service agencies and other federal departments, so that news about AIDS research advances and clinical treatment gets passed along quickly between agencies and out to affected communities and health care providers.