The NIH Health Information page provides access to Institute and Center resources based on scientific investigation.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has no official role in policing the quality of health information found on the Internet. Nevertheless, we can offer some advice.

• Web information should not be used as an alternative to seeking professional medical help. Don't use the information you find to make a self-diagnosis.
• Don't use information found on the Web for self-treatment, especially in cases of serious illness.
• Use the information you find to become an informed patient. Discuss what you have learned with your medical care providers.
• When reviewing information you have uncovered, look for dates — how old is the information?
• Be a critical consumer, ask questions: Has this document been updated? Is there a point-of-contact for the information? Are there any references? Has the information been peer reviewed (critically examined by credentialed professionals)?
• Remember that the distinction between a paid ad and public service announcements may not be obvious on the Web.
• Federal, State and even local government often provide health information. Look at the domain name of the site you have found — sites ending in GOV and ORG generally reflect Federal or State sources or non profit organizations.
• Be particularly cautious when you see claims that a product: cures a wide range of ills, promises a quick fix, or seems too good to be true.

As a public agency, NIH is committed to ensuring that accurate information reaches the diverse American public. How NIH Brings Health and Science to the Public explains how NIH communicates science and health information to patients, families, scientists, industry, teachers and students, health professionals, and the press.

The NIH website does not provide personalized medical advice about individual health conditions or treatments. The information and resources on this site are not a substitute for professional medical care. We encourage you to consult your healthcare provider with questions about your personal health.

For general health information, visit the NIH Health Information page and MedlinePlus, the National Library of Medicine's trusted consumer health resource.

If you have questions about specific foods, prescription medications, or over-the-counter drugs, visit the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

NIH is a medical research organization. We only see patients who are taking part in one of our clinical research studies. These studies cover many diseases and health conditions. Learn more about clinical trials.

No. Visit Healthfinder to learn how to choose high-quality health care.

The National Library of Medicine (NLM), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), provides information on more than 9,000 prescription and over-the-counter medications through its MedlinePlus website. For the latest information on drug approvals and safety warnings, consult the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). For resources on drug abuse and addiction, visit the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).

You can visit NIH Clinical Research Trials and You to learn about clinical trial basics, read volunteer and researcher stories, find ways to connect with clinical trials, and locate other educational resources for the public and health care providers.

The mission of National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) is to define, through rigorous scientific investigation, the usefulness and safety of complementary and integrative health interventions and their roles in improving health and health care.

The NIH Clinical Center invites healthy volunteers to take part in medical research studies, also called clinical trials. Healthy volunteers help researchers compare results with people who have a disease or health condition. About 3,500 healthy volunteers take part in NIH studies each year. Visit the Clinical Research Volunteer Program to learn more about volunteering and its benefits.

Some NIH Institutes provide health statistics online. You can find statistics on these topics:

• Cancer
• Complementary and Alternative Medicine
• Deafness and Other Communication Disorders
• Dental Health
• Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
• Drug Abuse
• Eye
• Mental Health

Statistics Information from CDC:

• Disease Control and Prevention

Data Tools and Statistics — provided by the National Library of Medicine

You can learn about NIH's biodefense research on the NIAID Biodefense website. For information about emergency preparedness, visit the CDC's emergency preparedness website.

Visit the NIH Grants page to find funding opportunities. You can also learn about NIH grant and fellowship programs, policy updates, and the responsibilities of grant recipients. The Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools (RePORT) website provides reports, data, and analyses about NIH-funded research.

Visit our Research Training Opportunities page. This site brings together information about the intramural and extramural training opportunities offered by all of NIH's Institutes and Centers.

The NIH Loan Repayment Programs (LRPs) help health professionals pursue careers in clinical, pediatric, health disparities, or contraception and infertility research. Visit the NIH Loan Repayment Programs website to learn more and apply online.

Check out NIH's estimates of funding for various research, condition and disease categories.

You can read about NIH's research, condition and disease categorization process.

Visit the News and Events page to read about the latest NIH research. You can also explore research highlights from the past year and view highlights from previous years on the Office of History website.

The NIH Calendar of Events lists NIH-sponsored events and other events that may interest NIH employees and the public. The calendar is updated every day. All listed events are free and open to the public.

NIH Image is a public domain image processing and analysis program for the Macintosh. It was developed at the Research Services Branch (RSB) of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It has been superseded by ImageJ, a Java program inspired by NIH Image that runs on the Macintosh, Linux and Windows.

The HHS Office of Research Integrity (ORI) promotes integrity in biomedical and behavioral research supported by the U. S. Public Health Service (PHS) at about 4,000 institutions worldwide. ORI monitors institutional investigations of research misconduct and facilitates the responsible conduct of research through educational, preventive, and regulatory activities.

Visit the NIH Stem Cell information page.

Founded in 1887, the National Institutes of Health today is one of the world's foremost medical research centers, and the Federal focal point for medical research in the United States. The NIH, comprising 27 separate Institutes and Centers, is one of eight health agencies of the Public Health Service which, in turn, is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Simply described, 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.

Follow this link for a list of organizational charts for each NIH Institute or Center.

The main campus of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is located in Bethesda, Maryland. Our main mailing address is:

National Institutes of Health
Building 1
1 Center Drive
Bethesda, Maryland 20892

NIH scientists conduct their research in laboratories located on the main campus in Bethesda, and in several field units across the country and abroad. The NIH also has facilities in the Rockville, Maryland area and the NCI Frederick Cancer Research and Development Center (FCRDC) at Fort Detrick in Frederick, MD. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences' main facility is located in Research Triangle Park (RTP) in North Carolina.

Other laboratory facilities include the NIH Animal Center in Poolesville, MD; the National Institute on Aging's Gerontology Research Center in Baltimore, MD; the Division of Intramural Research of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, also in Baltimore; the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases' Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, MT, and several smaller field stations.

Maps, driving directions and links to popular campus locations are located on our Visitor page. Information about entering campus and its buildings, parking, using campus transportation and current security measures. To find out if NIH is open, see OPM's Washington, D.C. Area Operating Status web site.

Our mailing address is:

National Institutes of Health
Building 1
1 Center Drive
Bethesda, Maryland 20892

You can find toll-free health information phone numbers on the NIH Health Information Lines page. If you need to contact NIH, call the main number at 301-496-4000.

Mailing address:
Director, NIH
9000 Rockville Pike
MSC 0148
Bethesda, Maryland 20892

E-mail: [email protected]
Web site: http://www.nih.gov/about-nih/nih-director

 More information about the NIH budget can be found on the Office of Budget site.

A number of Web pages have been developed to help you do business with NIH. If you are a small business, bookmark the HHS Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization page to take advantage of monthly seminars on "Conducting Business with NIH." Information about contracts and other business opportunities can also be found at the Office of Acquisition Management and Policy.

Information regarding Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.

Our Information Quality site contains guidelines, policy and instructions on requesting a correction.

Visit the NIH Jobs page to learn about employment opportunities at NIH. You can search for current job openings and find information about careers and the application process.

Visit the Summer Internship Program in Biomedical Research page to learn about the program, eligibility requirements, and how to apply.

The NIH Web site at www.nih.gov is maintained by the Office of Communications and Public Liaison (OCPL), which is part of the Office of the Director, NIH. Collectively, large segments of NIH Web space are owned and operated by each of the 27 Institutes and Centers that comprise NIH.

The purpose of the NIH Web site is to support the mission of our agency. NIH conducts scientific investigation in pursuit of fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems. NIH applies that knowledge to extend healthy life and reduce the burdens of illness and disability. As part of our mission we direct programs for the collection, dissemination, and exchange of information in medicine and health, including the development and support of medical libraries and the training of medical librarians and other health information specialists. The NIH Web site serves the public by offering ready access to:

• Clinical studies;
• Health and wellness information;
• Information on obtaining research funding;
• Research resources and library resources;
• News, events, and educational activities related to NIH and its mission;
• Scientific program, policy, and planning documents;
• General information about the agency, its history, organizational structure, staff, and facilities.

For more information about the NIH Web site, contact the
OD OCPL Digital Communications Branch
E-mail: [email protected]

Yes, NIH does have a privacy notice, it can be found at https://www.nih.gov/privacy-policy.

The NIH Web site is not just one site but a large collection of sites — over 150 servers. Some areas are updated daily while others may not be updated for weeks or months.

Most of the information on our site is in the public domain and can be used without charge or restriction.

There are a few exceptions. For example, some resources, such as the Interactive Health Tutorials found on NIH's National Library of Medicine Website, as well as images on the NIH Web site have been licensed by a third party and are restricted in their use. Generally, copyrighted materials will include a copyright statement. If in doubt, please write to the contact point for that site.

In addition, the word mark NIH…Turning Discovery Into Health^® is a registered trademark of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Another item restricted in its use is the NIH logo. The NIH logo is designed to signify official NIH products, activities, events, representatives, and facilities. It should never be used to promote or suggest endorsement of non-NIH products, events, or services. It should never be used by outside parties to misrepresent the purpose, character, policies, or mission of our agency.

Also, some materials that can be ordered from our site are subject to cost-recovery fee; however, in most cases, a single copy of any NIH publication can be ordered for free.

While you can reuse content found on our site, please note that many of our on-line health publications are continually updated as we learn more about that specific disease or condition. Occasionally, sites that copy and re-post our materials fail to check for updates, which results in out-of-date information being offered to users. For that reason, we urge you to link to our resource documents rather than re-posting. If you do re-post, please check back periodically to see if there are revisions.

The NIH logo is designed to signify official NIH products, activities, events, representatives, and facilities. It should never be used to promote or suggest endorsement of non-NIH products, events, or services. It should never be used by outside parties to misrepresent the purpose, character, policies, or mission of our agency. For more information about the NIH logo, contact [email protected].

Unless noted otherwise, it is safe to assume that information posted on public Web sites within the "NIH.GOV" domain are considered to be "in the public domain." As such, you are free to establish links to NIH on-line resources. In establishing such links, we do ask that you avoid creating the impression that NIH is endorsing or promoting any particular product or service.

As a Federal agency, NIH cannot endorse or promote commercial or individual interests or services. This includes adding links and logos from non-NIH entities. In some cases, where the information serves the public good and is consistent with our mission, we may include an outside link to an external resource; however, these need to be examined on a case-by-case basis. In general, the web developer of each particular site determines when links to outside entities are justified.

Please visit the NIH Flickr site to view free-to-use NIH health research images, b-roll, infographics, and videos.

A list of Selected NIH Education and Awareness Campaigns is available at https://www.nih.gov/about-nih/selected-nih-education-awareness-campaigns.