NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH 



The NIH Mission 



The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is one 

 of the major participants in the continuing effort 

 to improve the health of the people of the United 

 States. The particular NIH role — and one in 

 which it serves as the lead Federal agency — is to 

 develop and disseminate new biomedical knowl- 

 edge for the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment 

 of disease. It does this in several ways: 



1. By expanding the base of scientific knowl- 

 edge through basic and applied research in labora- 

 tory, clinical, and epidemiological settings; 



2. By supporting the training of biomedical sci- 

 entists to ensure continued excellence in research; 



3. By assisting in the development of resources 

 necessary for the research enterprise, such as fa- 

 cilities and equipment; 



4. By evaluating the safety and efficacy of new 

 forms of diagnosis, treatment, and prevention 

 through controlled clinical trials and field testing 

 measures; 



5. By cooperating with other countries in 

 shared areas of concern in biomedical research, 

 training, and communication; and 



6. By fostering the transfer of knowledge from 

 research to health care (when such knowledge has 

 clinical application of known safety and efficacy) 

 through dissemination of scientific and technical 

 information, within the Nation and abroad, in 

 medicine, health, and related fields, and through 

 participation in appropriate efforts to introduce 

 complex procedures into the health care system. 



NIH pursues its objectives through its Bureaus, 

 Institutes, and Divisions, most of which are locat- 

 ed at the Bethesda, Md., campus. There are 12 

 Bureaus and Institutes at present. Some are ori- 

 ented toward specific diseases; others represent 

 broader health concerns. They include: 



• National Cancer Institute 



• National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute 



• National Institute of General Medical Sci- 

 ences 



• National Institute of Arthritis. Metabolism, 

 and Digestive Diseases 



• National Institute of Allergy and Infectious 

 Diseases 



• National Institute of Neurological and Com- 

 municative Disorders and Stroke 



• National Institute of Child Health and Hu- 

 man Development 



• National Institute of Dental Research 



• National Eye Institute 



• National Institute of Environmental Health 



Sciences (located at Research Triangle Park, 

 North Carolina) 



• National Institute on Aging 



• National Library of Medicine. 



In addition, there are the research and support 

 Divisions that provide resources for all the Insti- 

 tutes in common. They include the Clinical Cen- 

 ter, Division of Research Resources, Division of 

 Research Services, Division of Research Grants, 

 Division of Computer Research and Technology, 

 and the Fogarty International Center. 



To achieve maximum efTectiveness, NIH sup- 

 ports research in a wide range of settings — labo- 

 ratory and clinic, intramural and extramural — and 

 through a variety of working arrangements — indi- 

 vidual and group. In certain instances, NIH sup- 

 ports research abroad at advanced biomedical 

 centers and in developing countries. 



Extramural research. Extramural research, both 

 laboratory and clinical, rests on the specialized 

 competence of the Nation's health professional 

 schools, graduate schools, and independent re- 

 search institutes. This is a strong partnership. 



Through support of research in universities, 

 NIH promotes the acquisition of knowledge and 

 the development of applications for raising the 

 level of health. The schools benefit by having fac- 

 ulty members who are directly participating in the 

 advancement of knowledge in their areas of in- 

 struction. The specialized competence of indivi- 

 dual profitmaking organizations is also drawn on 

 extramurally, under contract, for the performance 

 of many specific tasks. 



Intramural research. The intramural facilities of 

 NIH consist of several hundred laboratories and 

 the Clinical Center, a research hospital with 500 

 beds and support facilities. The organization of 

 NIH — with laboratory and clinical research to- 

 gether on the same site — greatly facilitates the 

 agency's role, encouraging cooperation between 

 laboratory and clinic, free exchange of scientific 

 findings, and the generation of hypotheses. NIH 

 management also benefits from daily contact with 

 persons immersed in biomedical research and in 

 touch with the larger national and international 

 communities of their disciplines and specialties. 



Research and program project grants. The ideas 

 and activities of the individual scientific investiga- 

 tor working in his own laboratory or clinical set- 

 ting are the major energizing factors in both intra- 

 mural and extramural NIH research. The research 

 project grant is the primary mechanism for sup- 

 port of the non-Federal scientist. In recent years 

 there has been an increase in the numbers of pro- 



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