T he Trans-NIH Action Plan for Liver Disease Research was completed and made available in December 2004, first on the NIH website and as a monograph shortly thereafter. The Action Plan was developed by a broad consortium of basic and clinical investigators involved in liver disease research, with input from staff of the NIH, other Federal agencies, industry, health care providers, and concerned lay persons. The purpose of the Action Plan is to advance research on liver and biliary diseases, with the ultimate aim of decreasing the burden of these diseases in the United States. The Action Plan provides a brief introduction to liver disease morbidity and mortality and current NIH funding. The core of the Action Plan is a list of 214 specific research goals for the next decade, including their background and justification. The research goals are organized into 16 topic areas, and each research goal is categorized by degree of difficulty (low, medium or high risk) and estimated time for completion (short, medium or longterm). The Action Plan is an ambitious and optimistic document that provides a structure and focus for research on liver and biliary diseases, which together rank among the top 10 causes of death in the United States.
The Action Plan also includes plans for implementation. Attainment of its research goals will be promoted through: (1) broad distribution of the document, (2) encouragement of its use in grant applications and in peer review, (3) promotion of collaborations between research funding entities (including industry), and (4) specific initiatives from the NIH and other Federal agencies concerned with liver disease research, such as the Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Department of Veterans Affairs.