NIH Releases Five-Year Rehabilitation Research Plan
After two years of planning and soliciting public input, the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research (NCMRR) within the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) released the NIH Research Plan on Rehabilitation. The government-wide plan, coordinated by NCMRR, addresses the need for rehabilitation research; NIH’s investment in rehabilitation research; current medical rehabilitation research activities at NIH; opportunities, needs, and priorities; and NIH’s coordination with other federal agencies. Seventeen NIH institutes and centers support rehabilitation research, and the plan “calls for the continuation of programs to understand the basic biological, physiological, and behavioral mechanisms that underlie disability.” Additionally, the new plan recognizes the emerging approach of precision medicine for disease treatment, prevention, and health disparities as an area for consideration.