National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Supporting a broad portfolio of research
The 27 institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health (NIH), an agency of the US Department of Health and Human Services, provide the largest single source of biomedical research and development (R&D) funds in the world. NIH has long supported R&D for international purposes. Dr. Francis Collins, NIH director, has identified research on global health as one of five opportunities for his tenure.
Much of the direct global health research conducted on the NIH campus, as well as research conducted by universities, institutes, companies, and nonprofits funded through the NIH’s grant mechanisms, is organized by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). NIAID includes the Office of Global Research. Research efforts range from highly specialized microbiological laboratory studies at the Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, to identification of correlates of disease and responses in animal models, to support for large-scale human trials of products to combat malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV.
Other institutes at NIH, such as the National Eye Institute and the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, conduct important related research.
Training and grant-making
NIH can use its grant mechanism to support concept-driven research. Recently, it has sponsored special work by product development partnerships to study neglected diseases and to facilitate the drug development pipeline process for neglected diseases.
NIH also directs global health training and provides support to more than 100 countries through the Fogarty International Center. The center also arranges for foreign scientists to train in the United States.
Although NIH occasionally estimates the amount of money it directs to specific diseases, these figures cannot account for the enormous contribution to solving the full range of global health disease issues made by other NIH centers. These efforts include a unique Roadmap of Common Fund Projects, high-innovation/high-risk grants in biology, and research to translate scientific discoveries into applied medical products efficiently. Discoveries and advances created at or funded by NIH make their way into public use through important contractual arrangements for technology transfer.
For more information on the above data, please see:
Fogarty International Center, Global Health Matters.
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, NIAID's Role in Global Research.
NIAID, Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases.
NIAID Partnerships with Product Development Public-Private Partnerships.
NIH News, NIH Announces New Program to Develop Therapeutics for Rare and Neglected Diseases.
Fogarty International Center for Advanced Study in the Health Sciences.
