National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health is the federal agency that conducts and funds medical and health research. It is part of the Department of Health and Human Services and is made up of many institutes, each focused on an area such as cancer, mental health, or aging. It supports scientists at universities and hospitals as well as in its own laboratories.
People usually bring questions about how research gets funded and how research priorities are set. Others ask how clinical trials work and how the agency differs from the CDC and the FDA.
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How Clinical Trials Work for Research and Drug Development
Clinical trials power medical progress. They are carefully regulated research studies involving human volunteers that determine whether new ways to prevent, detect, or treat…
Challenges for the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Stagnant funding, cumbersome bureaucracy, questions of public trust, concerns about scientific integrity, and political headwinds have all put pressure on NIH's ability to fulfill its mission.
What the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Does
The NIH leads the nation's efforts to understand diseases, improve health, and save lives.