Chair Report for the 1998-99 Research and Graduate Affairs

• Given recent Commission reports and program funding announcements, identify potential opportunities in clinical and behavioral research that could affect faculty in colleges and schools of pharmacy; and • Identify strategies for enhancing clinical and behavioral research competitiveness within the pharmaceutical industry, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). BACKGROUND Several recent reports and actions stimulated President Cohen’s charge to the RGAC, particularly by the NIH. They include: (i) the publication of the final report of the NIH Director’s Panel on Clinical Research (the Panel) and subsequent action to establish three new pro-grams designed to reinvigorate clinical research (K23, K24, K30) as recommended by the Panel(l,2); (ii) the action by the 1997-98 AACP House of Delegates approving a 1997-98 RGAC policy recommenda-tion urging those colleges and schools of pharmacy with the appro-priate resources to establish programs leading to graduate degrees (MS and PhD) in the areas of clinical research(3); and (ii) the imple