Home > Estimates of Funding for Various Research, Condition, and Disease Categories (RCDC)

Estimates of Funding for Various Research, Condition, and Disease Categories (RCDC)

Table Updated May 7, 2009
This table displays the annual support level for various research, condition, and disease categories based on grants, contracts, and other funding mechanisms used across the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

At the request of Congress, the NIH embarked on a process to provide better consistency and transparency in the reporting of its funded research. This new process, implemented through the Research, Condition, and Disease Categorization (RCDC) system, uses sophisticated text data mining (categorizing and clustering using words and multiword phrases) in conjunction with NIH-wide definitions used to match projects to categories. The definitions are a list of terms and concepts selected by NIH scientific experts to define a research category. Due to significant methodology changes, it is likely that annual totals for categories (year over year) will exhibit a noticeable one-time adjustment. The research category levels represent the NIH’s best estimates based on the category definitions.

The NIH does not expressly budget by category. The annual estimates reflect amounts that change as a result of science, actual research projects funded, and the NIH budget. The research categories are not mutually exclusive. Individual research projects can be included in multiple categories so amounts depicted within each column of this table do not add up to 100 percent of NIH-funded research.

The FY 2005 and FY 2006 data were produced from a reporting process historically used by NIH. The technical elements of the previous reporting process did not have the ability to produce uniform results and led to wide variability in the way research categories were coded. This process caused inconsistencies in reporting data. RCDC’s use of data mining improves the consistency and eliminates the wide variability in defining the research categories reported. To illustrate the effect of the RCDC methodology change, the table shows a side-by-side comparison view of FY 2007 levels produced with the prior method compared with levels that would have resulted if the new methodology had been implemented.

Total Number of Research/Disease Areas: 215
Click here for instructions on how to use the data table below.

Research/Disease Areas (Dollars in millions and rounded)	FY 2005 Actual	FY 2006 Actual	FY 2007 Actual NIH Historical Method	FY 2007 Actual NIH Revised Method	FY 2008 Actual	FY 2009 Estimated	FY 2010 Estimated
Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome	$72	$74	$48	$87	$82	$84	$85
Agent Orange & Dioxin	$20	$17	$18	$15	$13	$14	$14
Aging	$2,415	$2,431	$2,462	$1,879	$1,965	$2,019	$2,045
Alcoholism	$512	$511	$521	$443	$452	$466	$473
Allergic Rhinitis (Hay Fever)	$3	$4	$5	$7	$6	$6	$6
ALS	$42	$44	$39	$40	$43	$44	$45
Alzheimer's Disease	$656	$643	$645	$411	$412	$423	$428
American Indians / Alaska Natives	$140	$155	$141	$159	$142	$147	$149
Anorexia	$14	$15	$12	$8	$7	$7	$7
Anthrax	$183	$150	$105	$160	$134	$137	$139
Antimicrobial Resistance	$217	$221	$269	$209	$228	$234	$237
Aphasia	$3	$15	$14	$20	$22	$22	$23
Arctic	$22	$17	$19	$25	$22	$23	$23
Arthritis	$368	$355	$339	$222	$232	$238	$241
Assistive Technology	$138	$182	$184	$192	$215	$221	$224
Asthma	$289	$283	$294	$252	$246	$252	$256
Ataxia Telangiectasia	$10	$9	$11	$14	$13	$13	$13
Atherosclerosis	$322	$337	$347	$468	$460	$472	$477
Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)	$107	$116	$107	$61	$60	$62	$63
Autism	$102	$108	$127	$93	$118	$122	$141
Autoimmune Disease	$589	$598	$587	$759	$762	$783	$790
Basic Behavioral and Social Science	$1,065	$1,062	$1,104	$1,119	$1,149	$1,182	$1,198
Batten Disease	$9	$8	$8	$5	$5	$5	$6
Behavioral and Social Science	$3,044	$3,001	$3,060	$3,157	$3,215	$3,316	$3,362
Biodefense 1/	$1,696	$1,766	$1,735	$1,735	$1,736	$1,777	$1,793
Bioengineering	$1,318	$1,546	$1,469	$2,610	$2,853	$2,932	$2,973
Biotechnology	$10,889	$9,974	$9,814	$5,344	$5,179	$5,390	$5,468
Brain Cancer	$157	$178	$193	$204	$194	$200	$205
Brain Disorders	$4,784	$4,732	$4,670	$3,592	$3,729	$3,835	$3,888
Breast Cancer	$700	$718	$707	$729	$726	$748	$769
Burden of Illness	$433	$508	$524	$60	$48	$49	$50
Cancer	$5,639	$5,575	$5,643	$5,549	$5,570	$5,748	$6,016
Cardiovascular	$2,333	$2,349	$2,370	$1,942	$2,027	$2,081	$2,103
Cerebral Palsy	$23	$18	$16	$30	$28	$29	$29
Cervical Cancer	$96	$97	$96	$67	$69	$71	$73
Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease	-	$7	$7	$9	$12	$13	$13
Child Abuse and Neglect Research	$40	$38	$38	$41	$30	$31	$32
Childhood Leukemia	$60	$53	$55	$50	$39	$40	$41
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome	$5	$5	$4	$4	$4	$4	$3
Chronic Liver Disease and Cirrhosis	$410	$408	$379	$253	$241	$248	$251
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease	$63	$67	$91	$72	$75	$78	$79
Climate Change	$57	$50	$47	$4	$4	$4	$4
Clinical Research	$8,719	$8,785	$9,116	$9,862	$9,629	$9,931	$10,086
Clinical Trials	$2,863	$2,767	$2,949	$3,422	$3,562	$3,663	$3,719
Colo-Rectal Cancer	$284	$269	$282	$273	$274	$282	$290
Complementary and Alternative Medicine	$306	$301	$299	$426	$430	$443	$450
Conditions affecting unborn children	$108	$103	$110	$81	$81	$83	$84
Contraception/Reproduction	$340	$335	$314	$460	$473	$486	$492
Cooley's Anemia	$42	$42	$34	$22	$22	$22	$22
Cost Effectiveness Research	$134	$143	$155	$50	$49	$50	$51
Crohn's Disease	$59	$64	$69	$47	$51	$52	$52
Cystic Fibrosis	$89	$85	$82	$78	$90	$93	$94
Dental/Oral and Craniofacial Disease	$415	$413	$417	$484	$463	$476	$483
Depression	$329	$335	$345	$398	$402	$412	$418
Diabetes 2/	$1,055	$1,038	$1,037	$1,069	$1,080	$1,104	$1,110
Diagnostic Radiology	$788	$712	$694	$1,046	$1,095	$1,125	$1,142
Diethylstilbestrol (DES)	$9	$8	$6	$5	$4	$4	$4
Digestive Diseases	$1,237	$1,252	$1,234	$1,460	$1,426	$1,466	$1,487
Digestive Diseases - (Gallbladder)	$7	$7	$6	$6	$7	$7	$7
Digestive Diseases - (Peptic Ulcer)	$18	$17	$23	$15	$14	$14	$14
Down Syndrome	$15	$14	$16	$16	$17	$17	$18
Drug Abuse (NIDA Only) 3/	$1,006	$990	$1,001	$1,001	$1,007	$1,033	$1,045
Duchenne/ Becker Muscular Dystrophy	$17	$18	$23	$23	$22	$23	$23
Dystonia	$19	$19	$16	$18	$15	$16	$16
Emerging Infectious Diseases	$1,872	$1,857	$1,816	$1,733	$2,098	$2,156	$2,179
Emphysema	$21	$17	$21	$30	$29	$29	$30
Endometriosis	$10	$12	$12	$12	$15	$15	$16
Epilepsy	$105	$103	$105	$145	$145	$150	$152
Estrogen	$183	$153	$164	$283	$245	$252	$256
Eye Disease And Disorders Of Vision	$715	$705	$714	$800	$796	$818	$827
Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy	$2	$2	$4	$3	$3	$3	$3
Fetal Alcohol Syndrome	$28	$29	$34	$32	$34	$35	$35
Fibroid Tumors (Uterine)	$15	$15	$14	$20	$16	$17	$17
Fibromyalgia	$10	$9	$9	$11	$12	$13	$13
Food Safety	$329	$316	$278	$230	$244	$250	$253
Fragile X Syndrome	$22	$20	$27	$22	$26	$27	$28
Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD)	$29	$33	$31	$17	$17	$18	$18
Gene Therapy	$355	$356	$325	$250	$249	$255	$259
Gene Therapy Clinical Trials	$31	$32	$31	$12	$16	$16	$17
Genetic Testing	$422	$417	$395	$402	$383	$395	$402
Genetics	$4,840	$4,878	$4,878	$7,000	$6,872	$7,066	$7,173
Global Warming Climate Change	$24	$58	$56	$1	$1	$1	$1
Health Disparities 4/	$2,699	$2,766	$2,744	$2,744	$2,614	$2,691	$2,725
Health Effects of Climate Change	$159	$157	$164	$258	$286	$295	$300
Health Services	$940	$929	$1,023	$730	$743	$779	$792
Heart Disease	$2,087	$2,087	$2,126	$1,126	$1,217	$1,249	$1,263
Heart Disease - Coronary Heart Disease	$397	$398	$382	$379	$367	$377	$381
Hematology	$1,122	$1,114	$1,128	$881	$894	$919	$935
Hepatitis	$179	$177	$174	$176	$180	$185	$187
Hepatitis - A	$5	$3	$2	$6	$6	$6	$6
Hepatitis - B	$39	$36	$42	$53	$53	$54	$55
Hepatitis - C	$121	$122	$108	$100	$93	$95	$96
HIV/AIDS 5/	$2,921	$2,902	$2,906	$2,906	$2,928	$3,010	$3,055
Hodgkin's Disease	$18	$21	$17	$12	$16	$17	$17
Homelessness	$24	$21	$18	$14	$13	$13	$13
Homicide and Legal Interventions	$12	$11	$8	$1	*	-	-
HPV and/or Cervical Cancer Vaccines	$16	$14	$20	$16	$19	$19	$20
Human Fetal Tissue 6/	$24	$23	$19	**	$40	$41	$42
Human Genome	$1,084	$1,065	$1,099	$1,246	$1,259	$1,297	$1,317
Huntington's Disease	$48	$48	$53	$49	$51	$53	$53
Hyperbaric Oxygen	$2	$2	$2	$3	$4	$4	$4
Hypertension	$371	$395	$390	$231	$263	$270	$273
Immunization	$1,438	$1,438	$1,342	$1,713	$1,734	$1,779	$1,804
Infant Mortality/ (LBW)	$504	$478	$464	$227	$246	$253	$256
Infectious Diseases	$3,188	$3,132	$3,059	$3,433	$3,575	$3,678	$3,725
Infertility	$40	$40	$51	$65	$73	$75	$76
Inflammatory Bowel Disease	$70	$72	$80	$74	$81	$83	$83
Influenza	$164	$207	$271	$280	$204	$209	$212
Injury - Childhood Injuries	$26	$28	$27	$28	$26	$27	$27
Injury - Trauma - (Head and Spine)	$241	$233	$219	$164	$150	$155	$157
Injury - Traumatic brain injury	$87	$85	$82	$73	$59	$61	$62
Injury - Unintentional Childhood Injury	$22	$25	$21	$17	$15	$16	$16
Injury (total) Accidents/Adverse Effects	$353	$355	$403	$299	$299	$308	$312
Interstitial Cystitis	$26	$25	$23	$10	$10	$10	$10
Kidney Disease	$427	$434	$450	$531	$523	$536	$540
Lead Poisoning	$15	$15	$15	$13	$9	$9	$9
Liver Cancer	$82	$88	$90	$103	$89	$91	$93
Liver Disease	$454	$450	$423	$589	$562	$577	$584
Lung	$1,025	$978	$1,013	$1,169	$1,211	$1,244	$1,262
Lung Cancer	$289	$266	$249	$164	$169	$175	$179
Lupus	$89	$97	$84	$113	$126	$129	$130
Lyme Disease	$27	$24	$22	$26	$22	$22	$23
Lymphoma	$177	$170	$158	$186	$193	$199	$204
Macular Degeneration	$58	$60	$70	$135	$135	$138	$140
Malaria	$104	$98	$104	$112	$132	$136	$141
Malaria Vaccine	$44	$35	$36	$31	$32	$33	$33
Mental Health	$1,848	$1,824	$1,853	$2,061	$2,086	$2,142	$2,173
Mental Retardation (Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (IDD))	$192	$188	$204	$305	$350	$360	$365
Methamphetamine	$43	$45	$45	$66	$67	$69	$70
Mind and Body	$152	$136	$133	$571	$567	$583	$591
Minority Health 4/	$2,404	$2,423	$2,407	$2,407	$2,396	$2,474	$2,508
Mucopolysaccharidoses (MPS)	$10	$10	$10	$8	$7	$7	$7
Multiple Sclerosis	$110	$110	$98	$149	$169	$173	$176
Muscular Dystrophy	$40	$40	$47	$58	$56	$58	$59
Myasthenia Gravis	$5	$9	$6	$10	$9	$10	$10
Myotonic Dystrophy	$6	$7	$8	$9	$9	$9	$9
Nanotechnology	$165	$192	$215	$257	$304	$311	$326
Networking and Information Technology R&D	$509	$423	$507	$959	$911	$936	$950
Neurodegenerative	$1,215	$1,217	$1,166	$1,579	$1,621	$1,668	$1,690
Neurofibromatosis	$17	$16	$13	$12	$14	$15	$15
Neuropathy	$51	$54	$59	$118	$121	$124	$126
Neurosciences	$4,902	$4,830	$4,809	$5,102	$5,224	$5,372	$5,444
Nutrition	$1,072	$1,039	$1,075	$1,327	$1,391	$1,429	$1,444
Obesity	$519	$594	$661	$595	$664	$681	$687
Organ Transplantation	$358	$363	$358	$187	$175	$180	$181
Orphan Drug	$1,228	$1,255	$1,158	$653	$645	$664	$678
Osteogenesis Imperfecta	$9	$5	$5	$8	$5	$5	$5
Osteoporosis	$191	$169	$164	$167	$183	$188	$190
Otitis Media	$15	$17	$15	$20	$18	$19	$19
Ovarian Cancer	$106	$102	$103	$89	$96	$99	$102
Paget's Disease	$6	$6	$4	$1	$1	$1	$1
Pain Conditions - Chronic	$229	$220	$224	$277	$279	$287	$291
Parkinson's Disease	$225	$208	$187	$143	$152	$156	$158
Pediatric 9/	$3,210	$3,161	$3,173	$2,622	$2,771	$2,864	$2,906
Pediatric AIDS 7/	$279	$276	$262	$262	$241	$255	$260
Pediatric Research Initiative 10/	$145	$141	$171	**	$209	$212	$215
Pelvic Inflammatory Disease	$4	$4	$3	$4	$3	$3	$3
Perinatal - Birth - Preterm (LBW)	$394	$374	$351	$181	$197	$203	$206
Perinatal - Neonatal Respiratory Distress Syndrome	$10	$8	$9	$23	$18	$19	$19
Perinatal Period - Conditions Originating in Perinatal Period	$429	$407	$387	$413	$449	$461	$467
Pick's Disease	$1	$1	$1	$3	$2	$3	$3
Pneumonia	$154	$145	$132	$105	$93	$95	$96
Pneumonia & Influenza	$317	$351	$405	$382	$295	$303	$307
Polycystic Kidney Disease	$25	$32	$36	$33	$41	$42	$42
Prevention	$7,100	$6,815	$6,729	$4,596	$4,623	$4,752	$4,822
Prostate Cancer	$373	$348	$345	$295	$290	$299	$307
Psoriasis	$6	$8	$10	$22	$8	$8	$8
Regenerative Medicine	$591	$614	$575	$697	$723	$743	$753
Rehabilitation	$325	$324	$344	$379	$403	$415	$421
Rett Syndrome	$6	$5	$6	$6	$9	$10	$10
Reye's Syndrome	$1	$1	$1	$0	$0	-	-
Rural Health	$199	$202	$208	$173	$170	$175	$178
Schizophrenia	$353	$364	$358	$220	$249	$256	$259
Scleroderma	$11	$11	$12	$12	$20	$21	$21
Septicemia	$42	$49	$49	$93	$95	$98	$99
Sexually Transmitted Diseases/Herpes	$252	$264	$288	$282	$245	$251	$255
Sickle Cell Disease	$91	$91	$94	$78	$80	$83	$83
Sleep Research	$189	$199	$190	$219	$225	$232	$235
Small Pox	$187	$149	$122	$142	$94	$97	$98
Smoking and Health	$533	$517	$534	$324	$310	$319	$325
Spina Bifida	$10	$11	$9	$14	$15	$16	$16
Spinal Cord Injury	$89	$66	$64	$90	$80	$82	$84
Spinal Muscular Atrophy	$15	$15	$11	$11	$10	$10	$10
Stem Cell Research	$609	$643	$657	$968	$938	$963	$977
Stem Cell Research - Embryonic - Human	$40	$38	$42	$74	$88	$91	$92
Stem Cell Research - Embryonic - Non-Human	$97	$110	$106	$120	$150	$154	$155
Stem Cell Research - Nonembryonic - Human	$199	$206	$203	$226	$297	$305	$311
Stem Cell Research - Nonembryonic - Non-Human	$273	$289	$306	$400	$497	$511	$518
Stem Cell Research - Umbilical Cord Blood/ Placenta	$18	$19	$22	$44	$46	$47	$48
Stem Cell Research - Umbilical Cord Blood/ Placenta - Human	$15	$16	$19	$38	$38	$39	$39
Stem Cell Research - Umbilical Cord Blood/ Placenta - Non-Human	$3	$4	$2	$9	$9	$9	$9
Stroke	$342	$342	$340	$288	$296	$305	$310
Substance Abuse 8/	$1,508	$1,490	$1,523	$1,636	$1,763	$1,811	$1,836
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome	$84	$77	$81	$25	$29	$30	$30
Suicide	$34	$32	$43	$52	$39	$40	$41
Teenage Pregnancy	$26	$21	$16	$24	$21	$21	$22
Temporomandibular Muscle/Joint Disorder (TMJD)	$20	$17	$15	$18	$19	$20	$20
Tobacco	$531	$515	$536	$325	$311	$320	$326
Topical Microbicides	$66	$88	$99	$92	$102	$104	$105
Tourette Syndrome	$13	$13	$11	$9	$8	$9	$9
Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathy (TSE)	$37	$35	$43	$50	$44	$45	$45
Transplantation	$545	$551	$534	$544	$519	$533	$540
Tuberculosis	$158	$150	$166	$188	$142	$145	$147
Tuberculosis Vaccine	$26	$22	$17	$23	$18	$19	$19
Tuberous Sclerosis	$9	$9	$12	$20	$20	$21	$21
Urologic Diseases	$576	$536	$526	$535	$534	$550	$562
Uterine Cancer	$39	$28	$22	$24	$16	$16	$17
Vaccine Related	$1,450	$1,449	$1,358	$1,659	$1,632	$1,675	$1,698
Vaccine related (AIDS) 7/	$511	$566	$597	$597	$556	$557	$557
Vector-Borne Diseases	$447	$464	$424	$478	$417	$428	$433
Violence Against Women	$22	$20	$24	$49	$45	$46	$47
Violence Research	$121	$113	$106	$190	$183	$188	$191
West Nile Virus	$43	$85	$69	$81	$39	$40	$41
Women's Health 4/	$3,551	$3,498	$3,470	$3,470	$3,514	$3,627	$3,683
Youth Violence	$69	$67	$60	$123	$115	$119	$120

[-]	Data is not available at this time. FY 2009 and FY 2010 estimates will be displayed upon transmittal of the President’s budget request or as otherwise directed by the U.S. Office of Management & Budget (OMB).
[*]	The minimum reporting threshold for a specific disease/condition is $500,000. Reporting of $0 does not indicate that no research is being conducted.
[**]	No methodology was identified for RCDC in 2007; therefore there is no data available under the “FY 2007 NIH Revised Method” column.
1/	Reporting for this category does not follow the standard RCDC process. The total amount reported is consistent with reporting requirements for this category to the U.S. Office of Management & Budget (OMB). The project listing does not include non-project or other support costs associated with the annual total for this category. Additional information on this category is available at http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/topics/BiodefenseRelated/default.htm.
2/	Includes research funded from the Type 1 diabetes appropriation.
3/	Reporting for this category does not follow the standard RCDC process. Spending is reported consistent with U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) requirements (Only NIDA). More information on this area is available at http://www.nida.nih.gov/drugpages.html.
4/	Reporting for this category does not follow the standard RCDC process. This category assigns project funding according to populations tracked by gender or ethnicity. The databases used to track gender/ethnicity are complex and not currently compatible with the RCDC system.
5/	Reporting for this category does not follow the standard RCDC process. These are project listings only and non-project or other support costs associated with the annual total for the category are not included. More information on this area is available at http://www.oar.nih.gov/.
6/	Reporting for this category does not follow the standard RCDC process. This category uses a non-standard approach involving subject matter expert reviews of manually collected project listings.
7/	Reporting for this category does not follow the standard RCDC process. These are project listings only and non-project or other support costs associated with the annual total for the category are not included. More information on the budget associated with the category is available at http://www.oar.nih.gov/. Research reported for this category is also captured under the broader HIV/AIDS category.
8/	Reporting for this category does not follow the standard RCDC process. This category includes all spending reported under the Drug Abuse category as well as projects categorized under the broader area of Substance Abuse. These are project listings only. More information on this area is available at http://www.nida.nih.gov/drugpages.html.
9/	The reported total displayed in the "FY 2007 Actual-Historical Method" column does not include $69 million associated with the National Children's Study later identified to this category during development of subsequent reports. The recast FY 2007 total for this category that fully accounts for spending under the historical method is approximately $3,242 million.
10/	The reported total displayed in the "FY 2007 Actual-Historical Method" column does not include $25.8 million later identified to this category during development of subsequent reports. The recast FY 2007 total for this category that fully accounts for spending under the historical method is approximately $197 million.