1. Establish specific criteria and procedures governing its decisions to support research efforts consistent with its purposes, including (i) encouraging collaborative research efforts among two or more institutions or organizations, (ii) giving priority to those research efforts from which Board support can be leveraged to foster contributions from federal agencies or other entities, and (iii) supporting both new research efforts and the expansion or continuation of existing research efforts;

2. Establish requirements for the submission of research proposals, including (i) a clear statement of the problem or opportunity to be addressed; (ii) the specific objectives; (iii) a description of how the results will maximize human health benefits for the citizens of the Commonwealth; (iv) a budget for the research effort, including other anticipated sources of financial assistance; and (v) the timeframe for conducting the research;

3. Evaluate the proposals in accordance with the criteria established by the Board and the provisions of this chapter; and

4. Evaluate the implementation and results of all research efforts receiving support from the Board.