The Director of NIH, in coordination with the Directors of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and the other national research institutes as appropriate, shall expand and intensify programs of such Institutes with respect to research and related activities concerning various forms of muscular dystrophy, including Duchenne, Becker, congenital muscular dystrophy, limb-girdle muscular dystrophy, myotonic, facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (referred to in this section as “FSHD”) and other forms of muscular dystrophy.

The Directors referred to in paragraph (1) shall jointly coordinate the programs referred to in such paragraph and consult with the Muscular Dystrophy Interagency Coordinating Committee established under section 6 of the MD–CARE Act.^[1]

The Director of NIH shall allocate the amounts appropriated to carry out this section for each fiscal year among the national research institutes referred to in paragraph (1).