National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)

The NIAID Mission is to conduct and support basic and applied research to better understand, treat, and ultimately prevent infectious, immunologic, and allergic diseases.

The NIAID vision is to improve human health through an integrated, person-centered approach to infectious and immune-mediated disease research.  NIAID is dedicated to pioneering research and innovation that advances diagnosis, prevention, treatment and cures.

NIAID supports advancing and applying foundational research to:

• The immune system, microbe biology, and host-microbe interactions, including:
  • Supporting research on a fundamental understanding of immune mechanisms and microbial pathogenesis
  • Characterizing factors that influence immune system development, function, and disease outcomes including the role of the microbiome
  • Characterizing factors that impact microbe transmission and virulence
  • Study disease processes, clinical course, and patient outcomes
• Diagnostic and prevention strategies including:
  • Leveraging the human microbiome to prevent or treat disease
  • Developing technologies for the discovery and validation of prognostic and diagnostic disease biomarkers, response to therapy, and correlates of protection
  • Investigating the impact of early life exposures on allergic and autoimmune diseases
  • Developing approaches to prevent and treat solid organ graft rejection
  • Developing targeted immunomodulatory interventions
  • Developing safer vaccines with improved effectiveness in preventing or mitigating disease
• Treatment and cure strategies including:
  • Supporting implementation science to end the HIV epidemic
  • Developing tools to guide drug repurposing, identify small molecule therapeutics, and target identification for novel antibiotics and antivirals that improve patient outcomes, and non-antibiotic therapies including host directed, phage and microbiome therapies
  • Understanding latency mechanisms, persistent antigen expression, immune evasion, pathogen reactivation, and post-treatment control and rebound
• Strengthening the scientific workforce by fostering training and career development opportunities to cultivate the next generation of biomedical researchers.

Highlighted Topics