Coalition Applauds Senate Appropriations Committee for Including Strong Pediatric Research Provision in FY 24 Report

The Coalition for Pediatric Medical Research applauds the Senate Appropriations Committee for including language within the Fiscal Year 2024 Labor, HHS and Education spending bill report to advance pediatric medical research. Specifically, the FY 24 report language (below) includes funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to engage the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine to evaluate several specific issues pertaining to how NIH supports pediatric research with the ultimate goal of strengthening the level of support provided.

The Coalition advocated for inclusion of this provision in the report, and it complements other coalition priorities including the recently reintroduced Pediatricians Accelerate Childhood Therapies Act. We look forward to continuing to work with lawmakers in both chambers as the FY 24 appropriations process continues.

NIH Support for Pediatric Research.—The Committee commends NIH for its efforts to coordinate pediatric research across its Institutes and Centers through the recently established Trans-NIH Pediatric Research Consortium. The Committee understands NCI participates in the Consortium, and that childhood cancer research is an important part of the pediatric research portfolio across NIH. The Committee requests an update in the fiscal year 2025 CJ on efforts underway through the Trans-NIH Pediatric Research Consortium to enhance pediatric research across NIH, including efforts to strengthen the pediatric research workforce. The Committee desires NIH to maintain a robust pediatric research portfolio spanning basic, translational and clinical research, to adequately support researchers at all career stages, particularly early career investigators focused in pediatrics, and to ensure pediatric components are included within larger NIH research priorities. The Committee includes $1,500,000 for the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine to assess the current NIH pediatric research portfolio and structure, including how projects are categorized as pediatrics, how pediatric components have been included or excluded from larger NIH initiatives, structural or process impediments to pediatric applicants, how pediatric research priorities are established, and how pediatric research activity is coordinated across Institutes and Centers and to make recommendations to address deficiencies and improve NIH’s overall support of child health research.