| The National Institutes of Health (NIH), one of the world’s foremost biomedical research centers, is a Government agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is comprised of 25 separate Institutes and Centers.
NIH seeks to uncover new knowledge that will lead to better health for everyone by conducting research in its own laboratories; supporting the research of non-Federal scientists in universities, medical schools, hospitals, and research institutions; helping to train researchers; and fostering communication of biomedical information to various groups including physicians, patients and the general public.
NIH invests more than 81 percent of its dollars through grants and contracts to support research and research training in more than 1,700 institutions, including every major university and medical school throughout the United States and many abroad. About 35,000 scientists — who are the project directors — currently receive NIH funding.
About 11 percent of NIH’s budget funds more than 2,000 projects conducted in the agency’s own laboratories, most of which are located in Bethesda, Maryland. Other sites include North Carolina, Montana and Arizona.
One hundred and two scientists who worked at NIH or received NIH support have won Nobel Prizes for achievements as diverse as deciphering the genetic code and learning what causes hepatitis. Five of these Nobelists were NIH’s own scientists.
To contact NIH, call 301-496-4000 or visit NIH’s home page at <http://www.nih.gov/> on the World Wide Web. |
