According to this press release, Senators Joe Lieberman and Thad Cochran plan to introduce legislation that would create an American Center for Cures within the National Institutes of Health. The American Center for Cures would expedite the research and development of treatments for deadly diseases. The Center would be well funded and would direct “new resources towards the world’s most burdensome diseases.” Much like Defense’s DARPA, NIH will have HARPA, the Health Advanced Research Projects Agency. Not a bad idea. While there are many details to work out, the motivating principles seem sound. I look forward to seeing the actual bill.
Sounds like a strong follow-up to the Lieberman-Ensign “National Innovation Act of 2005” introduced earlier this year (described here), which (among other things) sharply increases federal funding for basic scientific research.
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