42 U.S.C. § 287a-2 - U.S. Code - Unannotated Title 42. The Public Health and Welfare § 287a-2. Rare disease regional centers of excellence

(1)In general

The Director of the Office of Rare Diseases (in this section referred to as the “Director”), in collaboration with the directors of the other relevant institutes and centers of the National Institutes of Health, may enter into cooperative agreements with and make grants to public or private nonprofit entities to pay all or part of the cost of planning, establishing, or strengthening, and providing basic operating support for regional centers of excellence for clinical research into, training in, and demonstration of diagnostic, prevention, control, and treatment methods for rare diseases.

(2)Policies

A cooperative agreement or grant under paragraph (1) shall be entered into in accordance with policies established by the Director of NIH.

(1) staffing, administrative, and other basic operating costs, including such patient care costs as are required for research;

(2) clinical training, including training for allied health professionals, continuing education for health professionals and allied health professions personnel, and information programs for the public with respect to rare diseases; and

(3) clinical research and demonstration programs.