The National Institutes of Health (NIH) already has too many institutes and centers, according to NIH director Harold Varmus. But his lack of enthusiasm for subdivisions hasn't stopped Congress from proposing more. This week Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA) planned to throw his legislative weight behind a bill to create a new Center for Research on Domestic Health Disparities, which would study health problems of particular concern to minorities.
Kennedy's bill is expected to mirror one proposed in the House on 30 June by Representative Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL). Jackson's bill (HR 2391) calls on NIH to fund research that aims to find out why ethnic minorities and "individuals in underserved communities" are likely to die earlier than whites of diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and AIDS. Jackson has already signed up 70 co-sponsors, including members of the Asian, black, and Hispanic caucuses. But neither bill is expected to make much progress this year.
