National Institutes of Health (NIH)

The National Institutes of Health (NIH), a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the nation’s medical research agency — making important discoveries that improve health and save lives. Thanks in large part to NIH-funded save lives. Thanks in large part to NIH-funded medical research, Americans today are living longer and healthier. Life expectancy in the United States has jumped from 47 years in 1900 to 78 years as reported in 2009, and disability in people over age 65 has dropped dramatically in the past 3 decades. In recent years, nationwide rates of new diagnoses and deaths from all cancers combined have fallen significantly. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Many NIH facilities are located in Bethesda, Maryland, and other nearby suburbs of the Washington metropolitan area, with other primary facilities in the Research Triangle Park in North Carolina and smaller satellite facilities located around the United States. The NIH conducts its scientific research through the NIH Intramural Research Program (IRP) and provides significant biomedical research funding to non-NIH research facilities through its Extramural Research Program. As of 2013, the IRP had 1,200 principal investigators and more than 4,000 postdoctoral fellows in basic, translational, and clinical research, being the largest biomedical research institution in the world,[1] while, as of 2003, the extramural arm provided 28% of biomedical research funding spent annually in the U.S., or about US$26.4 billion.[2] Basic research by the NIH contributed to every new drug approved by the Federal Drug Administration over the period 2010–2016.[3] The NIH is responsible for many scientific accomplishments, including the discovery of fluoride to prevent tooth decay, the use of lithium to manage bipolar disorder, and the creation of vaccines against hepatitis, Haemophilus influenzae (HIB), and human papillomavirus (HPV). In 2012, the NIH comprised 27 separate institutes and centers of different biomedical disciplines.[4] In 2019, the NIH was ranked number two in the world, behind Harvard University, for biomedical sciences in the Nature Index, which measured the largest contributors to papers published in a subset of leading journals from 2015 to 2018 In 1887, a laboratory for the study of bacteria, the Hygienic Laboratory, was established within the Marine Hospital Service, which at the time was expanding its functions beyond the system of Marine Hospitals into quarantine and research programs. It was initially located at the New York Marine Hospital on Staten Island.[8][9][10] In 1891, it moved to the top floor of the Butler Building in Washington, D.C. In 1904, it moved again to a new campus at the Old Naval Observatory, which grew to include five major buildings.[11] In 1901, the Division of Scientific Research was formed, which included the Hygienic Laboratory as well as other research offices of the Marine Hospital Service.[12] In 1912, the Marine Hospital Service became the Public Health Service (PHS).[10] In 1922, PHS established a Special Cancer Investigations laboratory at Harvard Medical School. This development marked the beginning of partnerships with universities.[10] In 1930, the Hygienic Laboratory was re-designated as the National Institute of Health by the Ransdell Act, and was given $750,000 to construct two NIH buildings at the Old Naval Observatory campus.[10] In 1937, the NIH absorbed the rest of the Division of Scientific Research, of which it was formerly part.[12][13] In 1938, the NIH moved to its current campus in Bethesda, Maryland.[10] Over the next few decades, Congress would markedly increase funding of the NIH. Various institutes and centers within the NIH were created for specific research programs.[10] In 1944, the Public Health Service Act was approved and the National Cancer Institute became a division of the NIH. In 1948, the name changed from National Institute of Health to National Institutes of Health. ...view more