To advance research to achieve medical breakthroughs in brain tumor treatment and improve awareness and adequacy of specialized cancer and brain tumor care.
Analysis under review: This bill has generated analysis that may be too generic or incomplete. Clause-level evidence remains available below.
Summary
What This Bill Does
The BRAIN Act establishes new federal programs to accelerate brain tumor research and improve patient care. It creates a Glioblastoma Therapeutics Network with $50 million/year in funding and a CAR-T cell therapy research program with $10 million/year, both aimed at developing new treatments for the deadliest brain cancers.
Who Benefits and How
Brain tumor patients and their families benefit from increased research funding, better access to clinical trials, and new survivorship support programs. Medical research institutions and academic medical centers receive substantial new grant funding (up to $60 million annually) through competitive NIH awards. Biotech and pharmaceutical companies developing brain tumor treatments gain a streamlined pathway to clinical trials.
Who Bears the Burden and How
Research institutions and biobanks that receive NIH funding must report their biospecimen collections within 60-180 days or face funding penalties. The FDA must develop new guidance within one year to ensure brain tumor patients are not excluded from clinical trials.
Key Provisions
- Authorizes $50 million/year for Glioblastoma Therapeutics Network (FY2026-2030)
- Authorizes $10 million/year for CAR-T cell therapy brain tumor research (FY2026-2030)
- Requires NIH-funded researchers to report brain tumor biospecimen collections
- Establishes national public awareness campaign on clinical trials and biomarker testing
- Creates pilot programs for brain tumor survivor care coordination
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Strengthens federal research programs and support systems for brain tumor patients through new NIH funding, biospecimen transparency requirements, and public awareness campaigns.
Key Policy Areas
Health, Medical Research, Cancer Treatment
Primary Purpose
Strengthens federal research programs and support systems for brain tumor patients through new NIH funding, biospecimen transparency requirements, and public awareness campaigns.
Policy Domains
BRAIN Act - Bolstering Research And Innovation Now Act
Identified Gains
- Brain tumor patients
- Medical research institutions
- Academic medical centers
- Biotech/pharmaceutical companies developing brain tumor treatments
- Cancer centers
- Childrens hospitals
Identified Costs
- NIH-funded biospecimen researchers (reporting requirements)
- FDA (new guidance mandate)
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
IntroducedMr. Blumenthal (for himself, Mr. Reed, Mr. Barrasso, and Mr. …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Academic medical centers and research institutions, Brain tumor researchers seeking specimens, Brain tumor researchers seeking specimens for studies
Positive-direction: Academic medical centers and research institutions, Brain tumor researchers seeking specimens, Brain tumor researchers seeking specimens for studies, CAR-T cell therapy research institutions, Clinical trial sponsors and CROs, Clinical trial sponsors seeking patient enrollment, Medical research institutions pursuing glioblastoma treatments
Negative-direction: NIH-funded biospecimen holders, NIH-funded researchers and biobanks holding brain tumor specimens
Brain tumor patients, Brain tumor patients and advocacy organizations, Brain tumor survivors
Cancer centers, Childrens hospitals, Medical schools, cancer centers, and childrens hospitals
Biotech companies developing CAR-T therapies, CAR-T cell therapy developers and researchers, Pharmaceutical and biotech companies developing glioblastoma therapeutics
Biomarker testing laboratories
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "the_secretary"
- → Secretary of Health and Human Services
- "the_commissioner"
- → Commissioner of Food and Drugs
- "the_director_of_nih"
- → Director of National Institutes of Health
- "the_director_of_the_institute"
- → Director of the National Cancer Institute
Key Definitions
Terms defined in this bill
A biospecimen that was collected or acquired in whole or in part through funding from the National Institutes of Health
A brain tumor tissue, cerebral spinal fluid, or other specimen type listed by the Specimen Resource Locator of the National Cancer Institute (or a successor database)
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology