The National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases

Basic and Clinical Biomedical Research

The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) conducts and supports biomedical research and training.

The NIDDK Intramural Research Program (IRP) conducts basic and clinical research in its laboratories and clinical facilities in Bethesda, Maryland and in Phoenix, Arizona. In addition to diabetes mellitus, bone and metabolic diseases, digestive diseases, including liver diseases and nutritional disorders, NIDDK’s biomedical research efforts could be generally characterized as “internal medicine”-oriented as they relate to the medical specialties of endocrinology, gastroenterology, hematology, infectious disease, and nephrology.

The research conducted in the IRP spans the breadth of modern biomedical investigation, from basic science to clinical studies. Some of the research areas under study include biophysics, cell biology, chemical biology and medicinal chemistry, developmental biology, genetics, pathogenesis and novel therapies of disease, molecular biology, signal transduction, and structural biology. NIDDK employs clinicians who conduct and manage clinical research studies on these various diseases. NIDDK employs medicinal chemists, who conduct research to synthesize and evaluate both macro-molecules and small molecules, including agonists and antagonists to G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) such as Thyroid Stimulating Hormone (TSH), Adenosine, and 5-Hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) receptors. In addition, NIDDK employs biologists and process scientists who create a vast array of technologies ranging from cell lines to transgenic and knock-out mouse models.

If you would like to discuss NIDDK basic science or clinical research collaboration opportunities, unpublished research and technologies, or future commercialization possibilities for a particular technology with NIDDK scientific staff, please contact the NIDDK OTTD.