NIH Panel Delivers Recommendations
on Intramural Clinical Research
January 16, 2004 - A blue ribbon panel appointed by
National Institutes of Health Director Elias Zerhouni, M.D.,
recommends restructuring NIH's intramural clinical research
programs. Panel chair Edward J. Benz, Jr. M.D., president
of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, presented these
findings at the Jan. 12 meeting of the NIH's Advisory Committee
to the Director (ACD). His report focused largely on the management
and organization of NIH intramural clinical research programs,
which, though a fraction of the agency's overall budget, are
a major enterprise in their own right - about $900 million
annually. The panel calls for creation of a single, high-level
oversight committee for intramural clinical research, an external
advisory committee, and a new position of NIH Deputy Director
for Clinical Research in the Office of Intramural Research.
Dr. Benz stressed that the new position is not intended to
demote the director of the NIH Clinical Center.
He also noted parallels and differences between these recommendations
and those of the Institute of Medicine and the National Research
Council, which in July 2003 called for consolidation of clinical
research support programs (intramural and extramural) across
NIH into a single National Center for Clinical Research and
Research Resources (NCCRRR) and appointment of a deputy director
for clinical research in the Office of the Director. The AAMC
criticized the IOM recommendation, in part for not sufficiently
taking into account the impact of this recommendation on vital
research support programs in NIH's existing National Center
for Research Resources. The Benz panel, in contrast, focuses
on intramural clinical research, though it does call for "partnerships"
with General Clinical Research Centers and other academic
research.
On other topics, Ruth Kirschstein, M.D., senior advisor to
the NIH Director, presented proposals from a recent NIH workshop
on Post Doctoral Training, including NIH support for grantee
institutions establishing central offices to assist post doctoral
trainees, development of standardized benefit packages, and
better use of the NIH's "moral suasion" to promote
better mentoring and guidance for post docs. Dr. Zerhouni
said that the difficulty for trainees in achieving stable
and independent research careers "is the only thing that
keeps me up at night," as it threatens to drive able
people away from research and undermines the future of NIH.
The ACD also received presentations from two new institute
directors, Story Landis, Ph.D., (National Institute of Neurological
Disorders and Stroke) and Jeremy Berg, Ph.D., National Institute
of General Medical Sciences) and from Dushanka Kleinman, D.D.S.,
M.Sc.D., new Assistant Director for Roadmap Coordination.
Information:
Stephen Heinig, Lead Science Policy Analyst
AAMC Biomedical Health Sciences Research
sheinig@aamc.org
(202) 828-0488
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