
National Institutes of Health

Building 50 at NIH
The
National Institutes of Health
(
NIH) is an agency of the
United
States Department of Health and Human Services and is the
primary agency of the United States government responsible for
biomedical and
health-related research. It consists of 27 separate
institutes and centers which includes the
Office of the Director.
Francis S. Collins is the current Director.
The predecessor of the NIH began in 1887 as the Laboratory of
Hygiene. It grew and was reorganized in 1930 by the
Ransdell Act into the National Institute of
Health (singular at the time). As of 2003, the NIH was responsible
for 28%—about US$26.4 billion—of the total biomedical research
funding spent annually in the U.S., with most of the rest coming
from industry.
The NIH is divided into two parts: the "Extramural" parts of NIH
are responsible for the funding of biomedical research outside of
NIH, while the "Intramural" parts of NIH conduct research.
Intramural
research is primarily conducted at the main campus in Bethesda,
Maryland
and the surrounding communities.
The
National Institute of Aging and the National Institute on Drug
Abuse are located in Baltimore, Maryland
, and the National Institute of Environmental Health
Sciences is in Research
Triangle, North
Carolina
. The
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
NIAID maintains Rocky Mountain Labs in Hamilton,
Montana, with an emphasis on virology.
The goal of NIH research is to acquire new knowledge to help
prevent, detect, diagnose, and treat
disease
and
disability, from the rarest
genetic disorder to the
common cold. The NIH mission is to uncover new
knowledge that will lead to better health for everyone. NIH works
toward that mission by: conducting research in its own
laboratories; supporting the research of non-Federal
scientists in
universities,
medical
schools,
hospitals, and research
institutions throughout the country and abroad; helping in the
training of research investigators; and fostering communication of
medical and health sciences information.
Institutes
Name |
Acronym |
Description |
Est. |
National Cancer
Institute |
NCI |
Research and training aimed to eliminate the suffering and
death due to cancer. |
1937 |
National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases |
NIAID |
Research goals include striving to understand, treat, and
ultimately prevent infectious, immunologic, and allergic
diseases. The NIAID-funded Influenza Genome Sequencing
Project is a collaborative effort designed to increase the
genome knowledge base of influenza and help researchers understand
how flu viruses evolve, spread and cause disease. |
1948 |
National
Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research |
NIDCR |
Provides leadership for a national research program designed to
understand, treat, and ultimately prevent infectious and inherited
craniofacial-oral-dental diseases and disorders. |
1948 |
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney
Diseases |
NIDDK |
Conducts and supports research and provides leadership for a
national program in diabetes, endocrinology, and metabolic diseases, digestive diseases and nutrition, and kidney,
urologic, and hematologic diseases. |
1948 |
National
Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute |
NHLBI |
Provides leadership for a national program in diseases of the
heart, blood
vessels, lung, and blood; blood resources; and sleep disorders. Also has administrative
responsibility for the NIH
Woman's Health Initiative. |
1948 |
National
Institute of Mental Health |
NIMH |
Understanding, treatment, and prevention of mental illnesses through basic research on
the brain and behavior, and through clinical, epidemiological, and services research. |
1949 |
National
Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke |
NINDS |
Supports and conducts research, both basic and clinical, on the
normal and diseased nervous system,
fosters the training of investigators in the basic and clinical
neurosciences, and seeks better
understanding, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of neurological disorders. |
1950 |
National
Library of Medicine |
NLM |
NLM collects, organizes, and makes available biomedical science
information to investigators, educators, and practitioners and
carries out programs designed to strengthen medical library services in the United
States. The NLM established the National Center for Biotechnology
Information (NCBI) which is a central repository of biological information and
includes the PubMed literature database and
the gene database GenBank. The NCBI
is one of the largest components of the NLM. |
1956 |
National
Institute of Child Health and Human Development |
NICHD |
NICHD researchs fertility, pregnancy, growth, development, and medical rehabilitation
for the promotion of all aspects of child
health. |
1962 |
National
Institute of General Medical Sciences |
NIGMS |
NIGMS supports basic biomedical research not targeted to
specific diseases, funds studies on genes,
proteins, and cell, supports research training programs
that produce the next generation of biomedical scientists, has
special programs to encourage underrepresented minorities to pursue
biomedical research careers. |
1962 |
National Eye
Institute |
NEI |
Conducts and supports research that helps prevent and treat
eye diseases and other disorders of
vision. |
1968 |
National
Institute of Environmental Health Sciences |
NIEHS |
Research on how environmental exposures, genetic
susceptibility, and age interact to affect an individual's
health. |
1969 |
National
Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism |
NIAAA |
NIAAA research is focused on improving the treatment and
prevention of alcoholism and
alcohol-related problems. |
1970 |
National Institute
on Drug Abuse |
NIDA |
NIDA supports and conducts research on drug abuse and addiction prevention, treatment, and
policy. |
1973 |
National Institute on
Aging |
NIA |
Undertakes research on the biomedical, social, and behavioral
aspects of the aging process, prevention
of age-related diseases and disabilities,
promotion of better quality of life for all older Americans. |
1974 |
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin
Diseases |
NIAMS |
NIAMS supports research into causes, treatment, and prevention
of arthritis and musculoskeletal and skin
diseases, the training of basic and clinical scientists to carry
out this research, and the dissemination of information on research
progress in these diseases. |
1986 |
National
Institute of Nursing Research |
NINR |
NINR supports clinical and basic research to establish a
scientific basis for the care of individuals across the life
span. |
1986 |
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication
Disorders |
NIDCD |
Conducts and supports biomedical research and research training
on normal mechanisms as well as diseases and disorders of hearing, balance, smell,
taste, voice,
speech, and language. |
1988 |
National
Human Genome Research Institute |
NHGRI |
Supports the NIH component of the Human Genome Project. NHGRI's Intramural Research Program
develops and implements technology for understanding, diagnosing,
and treating genetic diseases. |
1989 |
National
Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering |
NIBIB |
Promotes fundamental discoveries, design and development, and
translation and assessment of technological capabilities in
biomedical imaging and bioengineering, enabled by relevant areas of
information science, physics, chemistry,
mathematics, materials science, and computer sciences. |
2000 |
Centers of the NIH
In addition to being divided by research area, NIH has many
operating groups called
centers which operate
within across all of the Institutes.
Name |
Acronym |
Description |
Est. |
Center for Scientific
Review |
CSR |
The CSR is the focal point at NIH for the conduct of initial
peer review of grant and fellowship applications, implements
ways to conduct referral and review. |
1946 |
Warren Grant
Magnuson Clinical Center |
CC |
The clinical research facility
of the National Institutes of Health; provides patient care,
services, and environment needed to initiate and support conduct of
and training in clinical research. |
1953 |
National
Center for Research Resources |
NCRR |
Research projects and shared resources in biomedical
technology, clinical research, comparative medicine, and research
infrastructure. |
1962 |
Center for
Information Technology |
CIT; formerly DCRT, OIRM, TCB |
The CIT incorporates computers into the biomedical programs and
administrative procedures of the NIH by conducting computational
biosciences research, developing computer systems, and providing
computer facilities. |
1964 |
John E.
Fogarty
International Center |
FIC |
Promotes and supports scientific research and training
internationally to reduce disparities in global health. |
1968 |
Radiological Physics
Center |
RPC |
Offers quality assurance to the National Cancer Institute (NCI)
that all participating institutions in NCI sponsored cooperative
groups are following the guidelines for the physics-related aspects
of their protocols. |
1968 |
Quality Assurance
Review Center |
QARC |
Provides radiotherapy quality
assurance and diagnostic imaging
data management for all of the National Cancer Institute (NCI)
sponsored cooperative groups. It also contracts privately with the
pharmaceutical industry for its services in clinical trials involving anti-cancer
drugs. |
1977 |
National Center for Biotechnology
Information |
NCBI |
Established as a national resource for molecular biology
information, NCBI creates public databases, conducts research in
computational biology, develops software tools for analyzing genome
data, and disseminates biomedical information - all for the better
understanding of molecular processes affecting human health and
disease. |
1988 |
National
Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine |
NCCAM |
Exploring complementary and alternative medical practices in the
context of rigorous science, training researchers, disseminating
authoritative information. |
1992 |
National
Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities |
NCMHD |
NCMHD leads, coordinates, supports, and assesses the NIH effort
to reduce and ultimately eliminate health disparities in minority
groups; conduct and support basic, clinical, social, and behavioral
research, reach out to minority and other health disparity
communities. |
1993 |
Dale and Betty Bumpers Vaccine Research Center[7521] |
VRC |
The mission of the Vaccine Research Center (VRC) is to conduct
research that facilitates the development of effective vaccines for
human disease. The primary focus of research is the development of
vaccines for AIDS. |
1999 |
Bioinformatics
Resource Centers |
BRC |
Provides genomic, proteomic, biochemical, and microbiological
data from a wide range of emerging/re-emerging pathogens (NIAID
Category A, B, and C). Contains eight sub-centers (the BRCs) each
dedicated to a different group of pathogens. Data are presented in
a database format accessible by Web interfaces, together with tools
for analysis. |
2004 |
|
National Centers for Biomedical
Computing |
NCBC |
Be the core of the networked national effort to build the
computational infrastructure for biomedical computing in the
nation. |
2004 |
Office of the Director
The
Office of the Director is the central office
at NIH. The OD is responsible for setting policy for NIH and for
planning, managing, and coordinating the programs and activities of
all the NIH components. Program offices in the Office of the
Director are responsible for stimulating specific areas of research
throughout NIH and for planning and supporting research and related
activities. Current program areas are: minority health, women's
health, AIDS research, disease prevention, and behavioral and
social sciences research. In July of 2009, President
Barack Obama nominated Dr.
Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., to be the Director
of the NIH. On August 7th 2009, the
US
Senate confirmed Dr. Collins by unanimous vote.
Program offices within the Office of the Director fund research
through the institutes:
Full name |
Acronym |
Role |
Office of Extramural Research |
OER |
provides guidance to institutes in research and training
programs conducted through extramural (grant, contract, cooperative
agreement) programs |
Office of Intramural Research |
OIR |
coordinates research conducted directly by NIH personnel
through intramural programs |
Office of Management |
OM |
responsible for management and financial functions of the
NIH |
Office of Administration |
OA |
advises the NIH Director and staff on administration and
management; develops and implements policies, and provides
oversight in the areas of information resources management,
management assessment, grant administration and contract
management, procurement, and logistics |
Office of AIDS Research |
OAR |
formulates scientific policy for, and recommends allocation of
research resources for AIDS research at NIH |
Office of Biotechnology Activities |
OBA |
"monitors scientific progress in human genetics research in
order to anticipate future developments, including ethical, legal,
and social concerns, in basic and clinical research involving
Recombinant DNA, Genetic Technologies, and
Xenotransplantation" |
Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research |
OBSSR |
advises the NIH Director and other key officials on matters
relating to research on the role of human behavior in the
development of health, prevention of disease, and therapeutic
intervention |
Office of Communications and Public Liaison |
OCPL |
advises the Director and communicates information about NIH
policies, programs, and research results to the general public |
Office of Community Liaison |
OCL |
advises the Director, plans, directs and oversees activities to
promote collaboration between NIH and its community, and ensures
effective communication on policy and programs involving the
community |
Office of Disease Prevention |
ODP |
coordinates NIH activities regarding the application of
research to disease prevention, nutrition and medical practice |
Office of Intramural Training and Education |
OITE |
provides a comprehensive guide to postdoctoral training
opportunities available at the NIH |
Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity Management |
OEODM |
advises the Director and NIH staff on matters related to equal
employment opportunity programs and policies |
Office of Financial Management |
OFM |
advises the NIH Director and staff and provides leadership and
direction for NIH financial management activities; develops
policies and instructions for budget preparation and presentation
and administers allocation of funds and manages a system of fund
and budgetary controls |
Office of Human Resources |
OHR |
advises the NIH Director and staff on human resource
management; directs central human resource management services; and
provides NIH leadership and planning on human resource program
development |
Office of Legislative Policy and Analysis |
OLPA |
provides legislative analysis, policy development, and liaison
with the United States Congress |
Office of Portfolio Analysis and Strategic Initiatives |
OPASI |
provides the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and its
constituent Institutes and Centers (ICs) with the methods and
information necessary to manage their large and complex scientific
portfolios, identifies – in concert with multiple other inputs –
important areas of emerging scientific opportunities or rising
public health challenges, and assists in the acceleration of
investments in these areas, focusing on those involving multiple
ICs |
Office of Research on Women's Health |
ORWH |
serves as a focal point for women's health research at the NIH.
The ORWH promotes, stimulates, and supports efforts to improve the
health of women through biomedical and behavioral research. ORWH
works in partnership with the NIH institutes and centers to ensure
that women's health research is part of the scientific framework at
NIH and throughout the scientific community |
Office of Science
Education |
OSE |
coordinates science education activities at the NIH and
develops and sponsors science education projects in house. These
programs serve elementary, secondary, and college students and
teachers and the public. Free curriculum supplements developed in
collaboration with curriculum writers, NIH divisions, and NIH
scientists are available online and in hard copy at Curriculum Supplements. The OSE has also developed an
interactive health and medical science career exploration web site
for middle school and high school students called LifeWorks. Other educational resources from
throughout the NIH are found on the OSE main
page. |
Office of Rare Diseases |
ORDR |
supports research on rare diseases
and collaborates with related organizations such as the National Organization
for Rare Disorders. The Office of Rare Diseases was first
established within the Office of the Director in 1993, and then by
public law statute in 2002. |
Cancer
The
2010 United States
federal budget invests over $6 billion for
cancer research at the National Institutes
of Health as part of the multi-year commitment to double cancer
research funding.
Economic impact
In 2000, a report from from a Joint Economic Committee of Congress
outlined the benefits of NIH research. It noted that some
econometric studies had given its research, which was funded at $16
billion a year in 2000, a rate of return of 25 to 40 percent per
year. It also found that of the 21 drugs with the highest
therapeutic impact on society introduced between 1965 and 1992,
public funding was "instrumental" for 15.
References
- history.nih.gov
- SIC 9431 ADMINISTRATION OF PUBLIC HEALTH
PROGRAMS
- Medical Research Spending Doubled Over Past
Decade, Neil Osterweil, MedPage Today, September 20, 2005.
- About NIAID, NIAID web page, date accessed January 14, 2007.
- Microbial Sequencing Centers, MSC, DMID, NIAID,
NIH
-
http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/about/organization/vrc/about/goals.htm
-
http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/about/organization/vrc/about/meetings.htm
-
http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/about/organization/vrc/about/background.htm
- NIH - Office of the Director
- About OBA
- http://olpa.od.nih.gov/about/mission/default.asp
-
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/assets/fy2010_new_era/A_New_Era_of_Responsibility2.pdf
- U.S. Joint Economic Committee. (2000). The Benefits of Medical Research and the Role of the
NIH.
See also
External links