The National Institutes of Health (NIH): Institutes, Centers, and Offices (ICOs) (2024)

FAQs

The National Institutes of Health (NIH): Institutes, Centers, and Offices (ICOs)? ›

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.

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.

NIH is the steward of medical and behavioral research for the Nation. Its mission is to seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) supports biomedical and behavioral research domestically and abroad, conducts research in its own laboratories and clinics, trains research scientists, and develops and disseminates credible, science-based health information to the public.

The NIH headquarters, known as the “NIH campus” to the local community, are located in Bethesda, Maryland. Administrative and program operations facilities are also located in off-campus buildings in the surrounding area.

General public. One of the goals of the NIH is to "expand the base in medical and associated sciences in order to ensure a continued high return on the public investment in research." Taxpayer dollars funding NIH are from the taxpayers, making them the primary beneficiaries of advances in research.

NIH Director Monica M.

Bertagnolli, M.D., is the 17th director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She was nominated by President Joe Biden on May 15, 2023, confirmed by the U.S. Senate on November 7, 2023, and took office on November 9, 2023. She is the first surgeon and second woman to hold the position.

All visitors must enter through the NIH Gateway Center. You will be asked to submit to a vehicle or personal inspection. Visitors over 15 years of age must provide a form of government-issued ID such as a driver's license or passport. Visitors under 16 years of age must be accompanied by an adult.

The NIH Clinical Center is the nation's largest hospital devoted entirely to clinical research.

NIH is a medical research organization. As such, we only enroll patients who are participating in one of our clinical studies. These trials span a wide range of diseases and conditions.

Is the NIH funded by taxpayers? ›

Specifically, taxes fund the NIH, which allocates money across universities after a rigorous and competitive application process.

The NIH strives to exemplify and promote the highest level of scientific integrity, public accountability, and social responsibility in the conduct of science. The application of rigor ensures robust and unbiased experimental design, methodology, analysis, interpretation, and reporting of results.

The agencies are complementary in their roles and functions—NIH supports and conducts biomedical and behavioral research and FDA ensures the safety and effectiveness of medical and other products.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary Federal agency for conducting and supporting medical research.

As the largest public funder of biomedical and behavioral research in the world, NIH is the driving force behind decades of advances that improve health, revolutionize science, and serve society more broadly.

The NIH is a federal agency and employs several thousand people under different employment mechanisms.

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.