NIH Institutes, Centers, and Offices

Try the following strategies to identify relevant NIH programs likely to support your research area:

• Check the ICO profiles below and Funding Categories.
• Consider Highlighted Topics for your next investigator-initiated grant application.
• Explore NIH Funding Opportunities
• Use Matchmaker to find relevant ICO program officials. Enter scientific text and choose the “Similar Program Officials” option. The search results list the funding ICO and NIH program official. Learn more in the Matchmaker Tool Video Tutorial.

NIH ICO Profiles: Mission Areas, Funding Priorities, and Opportunities

The following NIH institutes, centers, and offices (ICOs) fund grant awards. Check each ICO's mission, any areas of special interest, funding strategy, and current funding opportunities.

Once you've identified one or more ICO, reach out to the relevant program officials to discuss your proposal, its fit within the ICO's mission and priorities, and to get advice on appropriate funding opportunities. Understand NIH Staff Roles and find contact information through the links below.

Fogarty International Center (FIC)

The FIC mission is to support and facilitate global health research conducted by U.S. and international investigators, build partnerships between health research institutions in the U.S. and abroad, and train the next generation of scientists to address global health needs.

National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS)

The NCATS mission is to turn research observations into health solutions through translational science. The NCATS vision is more treatments for all people more quickly.

National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)

The NCCIH mission is to determine, through rigorous scientific investigation, the fundamental science, usefulness, and safety of complementary and integrative health approaches and their roles in improving health and health care.

National Cancer Institute (NCI)

The NCI mission is to lead, conduct, and support cancer research across the nation to advance scientific knowledge and help all people live longer, healthier lives.

National Eye Institute (NEI)

The NEI mission is to eliminate vision loss and improve quality of life through vision research.

National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)

The NHGRI mission is to accelerate scientific and medical breakthroughs that improve human health. NHGRI does this by driving cutting-edge research, developing new technologies, and studying the impact of genomics on society.

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)

The NHLBI mission is to provide global leadership for a research, training, and education program to promote the prevention and treatment of heart, lung, and blood diseases and enhance the health of all individuals so that they can live longer and more fulfilling lives.

National Institute on Aging (NIA)

The NIA mission is to conduct and support research on aging and the health and well-being of older people. NIA seeks to understand the nature of aging and the aging process, and diseases and conditions associated with growing older, in order to extend the healthy, active years of life.

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

The NIAAA mission is to generate and disseminate fundamental knowledge about the adverse effects of alcohol on health and well-being, and apply that knowledge to improve diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of alcohol-related problems, including alcohol use disorder, across the lifespan.

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.

National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS)

The NIAMS mission is to support research into the causes, treatment, and prevention of arthritis and musculoskeletal and skin diseases; the training of basic and clinical scientists to carry out this research; and the dissemination of information on research progress in these diseases.

National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB)

The NIBIB mission is to transform, through technology development, our understanding of disease and its prevention, detection, diagnosis, and treatment.  

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

The NICHD mission is to lead research and training to understand human development, improve reproductive health, enhance the lives of children and adolescents, and optimize abilities for all.

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

The NIDA mission is to advance science on drug use and addiction and to apply that knowledge to improve individual and public health.

National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)

The NIDCD mission is to conduct and support biomedical and behavioral research and research training in the normal and disordered processes of hearing, balance, taste, smell, voice, speech, and language.

National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR)

The NIDCR mission is to advance fundamental knowledge about dental, oral, and craniofacial (DOC) health and disease and translate these findings into prevention, early detection, and treatment strategies that improve overall health for all individuals and communities across the lifespan.

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)

The NIDDK mission is to conduct and support medical research and research training and to disseminate science-based information on diabetes and other endocrine and metabolic diseases; digestive diseases, nutritional disorders, and obesity; and kidney, urologic, and hematologic diseases, to improve people’s health and quality of life.

National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)

The NIEHS mission is to research how the environment affects biological systems across the lifespan and to translate this knowledge to reduce disease and promote human health.

National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS)

The NIGMS mission is to support basic research that increases our understanding of biological processes and lays the foundation for advances in disease diagnosis, treatment, and prevention. NIGMS also supports research in specific clinical areas that affect multiple organ systems: anesthesiology and peri-operative pain; clinical pharmacology common to multiple drugs and treatments; and injury, critical illness, sepsis, and wound healing. NIGMS-funded scientists investigate how living systems work at a range of levels—from molecules and cells to tissues and organs—in research organisms, humans, and populations. Additionally, to ensure the vitality and continued productivity of the research enterprise, NIGMS provides leadership in supporting the training of future scientists and developing research capacity throughout the country.

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

The NIMH mission is to transform the understanding and treatment of mental illnesses through basic and clinical research, paving the way for prevention, recovery, and cure.

National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD)

The NIMHD mission is to support the advancement of scientific knowledge and improving the health of NIH-designated populations experiencing health disparities.

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)

The NINDS mission is to seek fundamental knowledge about the brain and nervous system and to use that knowledge to reduce the burden of neurological disease for all people.

National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR)

The >NINR mission is to lead nursing research to solve pressing health challenges and inform practice and policy, optimizing health for all.

National Library of Medicine (NLM)

The NLM mission is to support research efforts that contribute to advancements in the field of biomedical informatics and data science, with far-reaching implications for improving health and well-being. NLM fosters the advancement of cutting-edge technologies and methodologies, contributes to biomedical informatics and data science advancement, and develops strategies to improve health.

NIH Office of the Director (OD)

The Office of the Director (OD) is the central office at NIH, responsible for setting policy for NIH and for planning, managing, and coordinating the programs and activities of all the NIH components. NIH OD includes multiple offices and programs that directly support research. (Some OD offices also co-fund research in response to requests from NIH ICOs.) Find details and opportunities for direct funding at:

• All of Us. The mission of the All of Us Research Program is to accelerate health research and medical breakthroughs, enabling individualized prevention, treatment, and care for all of us.
• Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes (ECHO). The mission of ECHO is to enhance the health of children for generations to come. ECHO investigates how exposure to a range of environmental factors in early development influences the health of children and adolescents.
• NIH Common Fund. The NIH Common Fund supports bold scientific programs that catalyze discovery across all biomedical and behavioral research. Investigators and multiple ICOs collaborate on innovative research expected to address high priority challenges for the NIH as a whole and make a broader impact in the scientific community.
• Office of AIDS Research (OAR). The mission of the Office of AIDS Research (OAR) is to advance research to end the HIV pandemic and improve health outcomes for people with HIV.
• Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR). The Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) is to enhance the impact of health-related BSSR:
  • Identifying gaps and opportunities for BSSR
  • Integrating BSSR within the larger NIH research enterprise
  • Developing and coordinating BSSR initiatives with the NIH Institutes, Centers, and Offices (ICOs)
  • Communicating significant BSSR findings within NIH and beyond
• Office of Disease Prevention (ODP). The mission of the Office of Disease Prevention (ODP) is to improve public health by increasing the scope, quality, dissemination, and impact of prevention research supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
• Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS). The mission of the Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) is to coordinate cutting-edge dietary supplement research across NIH and other federal agencies to foster knowledge and optimize health across the lifespan.
• Office of Data Science Strategy (ODSS). ODSS provides leadership and coordination on a broad range of NIH-wide data science activities to realize the Agency's vision for a modernized and integrated biomedical data ecosystem.
• Office of Nutrition Research (ONR). The Office of Nutrition Research (ONR) mission is to stimulate innovative research to address the complexities of nutrition, its ecology, and its critical role in health across the lifespan for all.
• Office of Research Infrastructure Programs (ORIP). ORIP advances the NIH mission to seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability.
• Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH). ORWH envisions a world where women receive evidence-based disease prevention and treatment tailored to their own unique needs, circumstances, and goals; women are appropriately represented in clinical research populations; sex is considered at every stage of biomedical research and health care delivery; and all women in scientific career fields are empowered to reach their full potential.
• Tribal Health Research Office (THRO). The Tribal Health Research Office (THRO) mission is to support the development of culturally relevant biomedical and health research vital to improving American Indian and Alaska Native health. In addition, the THRO aims to build trust in the relationships and facilitate further collaboration among American Indian and Alaska Native communities and the NIH ICOs through research efforts that are acceptable and useful to American Indian and Alaska Native communities.