About NIH

The National Institutes of Health (NIH), a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the primary Federal agency for conducting and supporting medical research.

Helping to lead the way toward important medical discoveries that improve people’s health and save lives, NIH scientists investigate ways to prevent disease as well as the causes, treatments, and even cures for common and rare diseases.

NIH research impacts:

• child and teen health,
• men's health,
• minority health,
• seniors' health,
• women's health, and
• wellness and lifestyle issues.

Composed of 27 Institutes and Centers, the NIH provides leadership and financial support to researchers in every state and throughout the world.

For over a century, the National Institutes of Health has played an important role in improving the health of the nation. The NIH traces its roots to 1887 with the creation of the Laboratory of Hygiene at the Marine Hospital in Staten Island, NY.

• NIH News - the latest research from NIH
• Selected Research Highlights - a look back at important medical discoveries
• NIH Overview - how NIH research has benefitted the nation

NIH is the steward of medical and behavioral research for the Nation. Its mission is science in pursuit of fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to extend healthy life and reduce the burdens of illness and disability.

The goals of the agency are as follows:

1. foster fundamental creative discoveries, innovative research strategies, and their applications as a basis to advance significantly the Nation's capacity to protect and improve health;
2. develop, maintain, and renew scientific human and physical resources that will assure the Nation's capability to prevent disease;
3. expand the knowledge base in medical and associated sciences in order to enhance the Nation's economic well-being and ensure a continued high return on the public investment in research; and
4. exemplify and promote the highest level of scientific integrity, public accountability, and social responsibility in the conduct of science.

In realizing these goals, the NIH provides leadership and direction to programs designed to improve the health of the Nation by conducting and supporting research:

• in the causes, diagnosis, prevention, and cure of human diseases;
• in the processes of human growth and development;
• in the biological effects of environmental contaminants;
• in the understanding of mental, addictive and physical disorders; and
• in directing 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.