National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health is an institution
of the United States government which focuses on medical research.
The Institutes are located in Bethesda, Maryland.
The predecessor of the National Institutes of
Health (NIH) began in 1887 as the Laboratory of Hygiene. It was
grew and was reorganized in 1930 by the Ransdell Act into the
National Institutes of Health. Today it is one of the world's
foremost medical research centers, and the Federal focal point
for medical research in the U.S. The NIH, headed by the Office
of the Director and comprising 27 separate Institutes and Centers,
is one of eight health agencies of the Public Health Service which,
in turn, is part of the United States Department of Health and
Human Services. The current NIH Director is Elias Zerhouni.
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.
Institutes of the NIH
- National Cancer Institute (NCI): research and
training aimed to eliminate the suffering and death due to cancer.
Est. 1937.
- National Eye Institute (NEI): conducts and
supports research that helps prevent and treat eye diseases
and other disorders of vision. Est. 1968.
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI):
provides leadership for a national program in diseases of the
heart, blood vessels, lung, and blood; blood resources; and
sleep disorders. Also has administrative responsibility for
the NIH Woman's Health Initiative. Est. 1948.
- National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI):
supports the NIH component of the Human Genome Project. Its
Intramural Research Program develops and implements technology
for understanding, diagnosing, and treating genetic diseases.
Est. 1989.
- National Institute on Aging (NIA): research
on the biomedical, social, and behavioral aspects of the aging
process, prevention of age-related diseases and disabilities,
promotion of better quality of life for all older Americans.
Est. 1974.
- National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
(NIAAA): research focused on improving the treatment and prevention
of alcoholism and alcohol-related problems. Est. 1970.
- National Institute of Allergy and Infectious
Diseases (NIAID): research striving to understand, treat, and
ultimately prevent infectious, immunologic, and allergic diseases.
Est. 1948.
- National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal
and Skin Diseases (NIAMS): supports research into causes, treatment,
and prevention of arthritis and musculoskeletal and skin diseases,
the training of basic and clinical scientists to carry out this
research, and the dissemination of information on research progress
in these diseases. Est. 1986.
- National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and
Bioengineering (NIBIB): promotes fundamental discoveries, design
and development, and translation and assessment of technological
capabilities in biomedical imaging and bioengineering, enabled
by relevant areas of information science, physics, chemistry,
mathematics, materials science, and computer sciences. Est.
2000.
- National Institute of Child Health and Human
Development (NICHD): research on fertility, pregnancy, growth,
development, and medical rehabilitation for the promotion of
all aspects of child health. Est. 1962.
- National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication
Disorders (NIDCD): conducts and supports biomedical research
and research training on normal mechanisms as well as diseases
and disorders of hearing, balance, smell, taste, voice, speech,
and language. Est. 1988.
- National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial
Research (NIDCR): provides leadership for a national research
program designed to understand, treat, and ultimately prevent
infectious and inherited craniofacial-oral-dental diseases and
disorders. Est. 1948.
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive
and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK): conducts and supports research
and provides leadership for a national program in diabetes,
endocrinology, and metabolic diseases, digestive diseases and
nutrition, and kidney, urologic, and hematologic diseases. Est.
1948.
- National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA): support
and conduct of research on drug abuse and addiction prevention,
treatment, and policy. Est. 1973.
- National Institute of Environmental Health
Sciences (NIEHS): research on how environmental exposures, genetic
susceptibility, and age interact to affect an individual's health.
Est. 1969.
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences
(NIGMS): supports basic biomedical research that is not targeted
to specific diseases, funds studies on genes, proteins, and
cells, supports research training programs that produce the
next generation of biomedical scientists, has special programs
to encourage underrepresented minorities to pursue biomedical
research careers. Est. 1962.
- National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH):
understanding, treatment, and prevention of mental illnesses
through basic research on the brain and behavior, and through
clinical, epidemiological, and services research. Est. 1949.
- National Institute of Neurological Disorders
and Stroke (NINDS): supports and conducts research, both basic
and clinical, on the normal and diseased nervous system, fosters
the training of investigators in the basic and clinical neurosciences,
and seeks better understanding, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention
of neurological disorders. Est. 1950.
- National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR):
supports clinical and basic research to establish a scientific
basis for the care of individuals across the life span. Est.
1986.
- National Library of Medicine (NLM): collects,
organizes, and makes available biomedical science information
to investigators, educators, and practitioners and carries out
programs designed to strengthen medical library services in
the United States. Est. 1956.
Centers of the NIH
- Center for Information Technology (CIT; formerly
DCRT, OIRM, TCB): incorporates computers into the biomedical
programs and administrative procedures of the NIH by conducting
computational biosciences research, developing computer systems,
and providing computer facilities. Est. 1964.
- Center for Scientific Review (CSR): focal point
at NIH for the conduct of initial peer review, makes decisions
on applications, grants, and awards, implements ways to conduct
referral and review. Est. 1946.
- John E. Fogarty International Center (FIC):
promotes and supports scientific research and training internationally
to reduce disparities in global health. Est. 1968.
- National Center for Complementary and Alternative
Medicine (NCCAM): exploring complementary and alternative medical
practices in the context of rigorous science, training researchers,
disseminating authoritative information. Est. 1992.
- National Center on Minority Health and Health
Disparities (NCMHD): lead, coordinate, support, and assess the
NIH effort to reduce and ultimately eliminate health disparities
in minority groups; conduct and support basic, clinical, social,
and behavioral research, reach out to minority and other health
disparity communities. Est. 1993.
- National Center for Research Resources (NCRR):
research projects and shared resources in biomedical technology,
clinical research, comparative medicine, and research infrastructure.
Est. 1962.
- Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center (CC):
clinical research facility of the National Institutes of Health;
provides patient care, services, and environment needed to initiate
and support conduct of and training in clinical research. Est.
1953.
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