(a)
There is established within the Office of the Director of NIH an office to be known as the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (in this section referred to as the “Office”). The Office shall be headed by a director, who shall be appointed by the Director of NIH.
(b)
(1) With respect to research on the relationship between human behavior and the development, treatment, and prevention of medical conditions, the Director of the Office shall—
(A)
coordinate research conducted or supported by the agencies of the National Institutes of Health; and
(B)
identify projects of behavioral and social sciences research that should be conducted or supported by the national research institutes, and develop such projects in cooperation with such institutes.
(2)
Research authorized under paragraph (1) includes research on teen pregnancy, infant mortality, violent behavior, suicide, and homelessness. Such research does not include neurobiological research, or research in which the behavior of an organism is observed for the purpose of determining activity at the cellular or molecular level.
(July 1, 1944, ch. 373, title IV, § 404A, as added Pub. L. 103–43, title II, § 203(a), June 10, 1993, 107 Stat. 145.)