Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
2
Review of Recent Reports and
National Research Council Committee Workshop
INTRODUCTION
For its second report, the committee was charged with evaluating research progress since
release of its first report and with assessing the extent to which progress has been consistent with its
recommendations. Since release of the committee's report in January 2012, a number of national and
international efforts have focused on environmental, health, and safety (EHS) aspects of nanotechnology.
In the United States, reports have commented on continuing efforts and needs with regard to EHS
nanotechnology research, including The National Nanotechnology Initiative—Supplement to the
President's FY 2013 Budget (NSET 2012) (released in February 2012), Report to the President and
Congress on the Fourth Assessment of the National Nanotechnology Initiative (PCAST 2012) (released
in April 2012), and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) report Nanotechnology: Improved
Performance Information Needed for Environmental, Health, and Safety Research (released May 2012).
In addition, international research efforts directed at EHS aspects of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs)
have advanced, particularly in the European Commission (EC) Seventh Framework Program (FP7 1 ) 2 .
In this chapter, the committee reviews findings from key recent reports and assessments and
comments on the committee's workshop held in November 2012 (see Appendix C). The chapter is
intended to provide insights into the broader “systems” of research on EHS aspects of ENMs and to
set out a background for Chapters 4 and 5, where the committee offers recommendations for building a
more cohesive research enterprise on ENMs and human health and ecosystems. The findings of the
recent reports of the US agencies complement the committee's review, and the research efforts in
Europe are an important component of the global research enterprise.
THE NATIONAL NANOTECHNOLOGY INITIATIVE
SUPPLEMENT TO THE PRESIDENT'S FY 2013 BUDGET
The National Nanotechnology Initiative: Supplement to the President's FY 2013 Budget (NSET
2012) serves as the annual report on the National Nanotechnology Initiative (NNI) and summarizes NNI
activities for 2011 and 2012 and plans for 2013. It first examines changes in the balance of investment by
program component area (PCA) 3 and then progress toward achieving NNI goals. The focus of this
1 Funding programs created by the European Union to support research. The specific objectives vary depending
on the funding period.
2 The committee recognizes that there are other international research efforts, but this analysis is not intended to
be a comprehensive review. Rather it focuses on a few major reports from the US federal government and from the
European Union.
3 Program component area is one of the means by which NNI research and major activities are grouped.
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