NIH to update policies and practices guiding subawards

The National Institutes of Health’s mission is powered by the public’s investment. As such, NIH continually seeks ways to improve transparency in all that we do, especially in accounting for every dollar spent in support of lifesaving biomedical research, both here and abroad. Today I am announcing changes to NIH’s award structure that will enable NIH to maintain strong, productive, and secure foreign collaborations while better tracking how dollars are spent.

A majority of NIH’s budget is awarded to universities, medical schools and other research institutions across the country and the world. In some cases, these primary recipients issue subawards to other entities to carry out specific project activities. However, as the complexity of science increases, this structure has grown increasingly difficult to track. These issues, highlighted in a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report, can lead to a breakdown in trust and potentially the security of the U.S. biomedical research enterprise.

To address this, NIH will implement a new grant structure that supports productive collaborations between U.S. institutions and foreign collaborators that enhance our capabilities to provide effective oversight and management of these financial obligations in support of rigorous scientific research. As we transition to this new system, NIH will no longer allow new subawards to foreign institutions. As new competing awards are issued or non-competing awards re-issued, NIH will no longer support foreign subawards in them.

A formal guide notice has been issued to the research community detailing these changes. We expect to implement the new grant structure no later than Sept. 30, 2025.

By creating a more unified view of where NIH dollars are going, we are strengthening public trust and improving accountability to recipients of federal dollars.

Jay Bhattacharya, M.D., Ph.D.
Director, National Institutes of Health