The Director of NIH is encouraged to continue and expand, through the Pain Consortium, an aggressive program of basic and clinical research on the causes of and potential treatments for pain.

(1) In general The Director of NIH is encouraged to continue and expand, through the Pain Consortium, an aggressive program of basic and clinical research on the causes of and potential treatments for pain.

(2) Annual recommendations Not less than annually, the Pain Consortium, in consultation with the Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives, shall develop and submit to the Director of NIH recommendations on appropriate pain research initiatives that could be undertaken with funds reserved under section 282a(c)(1) of this title for the Common Fund or otherwise available for such initiatives.

(3) Definition In this subsection, the term “Pain Consortium” means the Pain Consortium of the National Institutes of Health or a similar trans-National Institutes of Health coordinating entity designated by the Secretary for purposes of this subsection.

The Committee shall be composed of the following voting members:

(1) Establishment The Secretary shall establish not later than 1 year after March 23, 2010, and as necessary maintain a committee, to be known as the Interagency Pain Research Coordinating Committee (in this section referred to as the “Committee”), to coordinate all efforts within the Department of Health and Human Services and other Federal agencies that relate to pain research.

The Committee shall be composed of the following voting members:

(A) In generalThe Committee shall be composed of the following voting members: (i) Not more than 7 voting Federal representatives appoint [1] by the Secretary from agencies that conduct pain care research and treatment. (ii) 12 additional voting members appointed under subparagraph (B).

(B) Additional membersThe Committee shall include additional voting members appointed by the Secretary as follows: (i) 6 non-Federal members shall be appointed from among scientists, physicians, and other health professionals. (ii) 6 members shall be appointed from members of the general public, who are representatives of leading research, advocacy, and service organizations for individuals with pain-related conditions.

(C) Nonvoting members The Committee shall include such nonvoting members as the Secretary determines to be appropriate.

(3) Chairperson The voting members of the Committee shall select a chairperson from among such members. The selection of a chairperson shall be subject to the approval of the Director of NIH.

(4) Meetings The Committee shall meet at the call of the chairperson of the Committee or upon the request of the Director of NIH, but in no case less often than once each year.

The Committee shall—

(A) develop a summary of advances in pain care research supported or conducted by the Federal agencies relevant to the diagnosis, prevention, treatment, and management of pain and diseases and disorders associated with pain, including information on best practices for the utilization of non-pharmacologic treatments, non-addictive medical products, and other drugs or devices approved or cleared by the Food and Drug Administration;

(B) identify critical gaps in basic and clinical research on— (i) the symptoms and causes of pain, including the identification of relevant biomarkers and screening models and the epidemiology of acute and chronic pain; (ii) the diagnosis, prevention, treatment, and management of acute and chronic pain, including with respect to non-pharmacologic treatments, non-addictive medical products, and other drugs or devices approved or cleared by the Food and Drug Administration; and (iii) risk factors for, and early warning signs of, substance use disorders in populations with acute and chronic pain; and

(C) make recommendations to the Director of NIH— (i) to ensure that the activities of the National Institutes of Health and other Federal agencies are free of unnecessary duplication of effort; (ii) on how best to disseminate information on pain care and epidemiological data related to acute and chronic pain; and (iii) on how to expand partnerships between public entities and private entities to expand collaborative, cross-cutting research.

(6) Report The Secretary shall ensure that recommendations and actions taken by the Director with respect to the topics discussed at the meetings described in paragraph (4) are included in appropriate reports to Congress.

(7) Review The Secretary shall review the necessity of the Committee at least once every 2 years.

(July 1, 1944, ch. 373, title IV, § 409J, as added Pub. L. 111–148, title IV, § 4305(b), Mar. 23, 2010, 124 Stat. 585; amended Pub. L. 115–271, title VII, § 7042, Oct. 24, 2018, 132 Stat. 4016.)