National Institutes of Health (NIH)

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is situated within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). NIH is the country’s medical research agency that seeks to improve health and reduce rates of illness and disability. The NIH supports and conducts research regarding all aspects of human diseases from the cause to the cure, the processes of human development, the effect of environmental contaminants on health and biology, both mental and physical disorders, and the exchange of information about medicine and health. The NIH operates across a variety of Institutes and Centers focused on different aspects of human health and wellbeing.

Institutes and Centers

  • National Cancer Institute (NCI)
  • National Eye Institute (NEI)
  • National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) 
  • National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)
  • National Institute on Aging (NIA)
  • National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)
  • National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease (NIAID)
  • National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS)
  • National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB) 
  • National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
  • National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD)
  • National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR)
  • National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
  • National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
  • National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
  • National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) 
  • National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
  • National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD)
  • National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
  • National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR)
  • National Library of Medicine (NLM)
  • NIH Clinical Center (CC)
  • Center for Information Technology (CIT)
  • Center for Scientific Review (CSR)
  • Fogarty International Center (FIC)
  • National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS)
  • National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)

Sources:
https://www.nih.gov/about-nih/what-we-do/mission-goals 

https://www.nih.gov/institutes-nih/list-institutes-centers 

By the numbers

Total number of employees
Number of employees fired
Total funding nationally (average over past five years)
$

Sources:

https://www.govexec.com/workforce/2025/03/nih-faces-renewed-doge-directive-cut-staff-pre-covid-levels-putting-thousands-line-rifs/403593/#:~:text=NIH%20employed%20around%2021%2C100%20employees%20as%20of,around%2015%2C700%20employees%20to%20around%2012%2C700%20employees. 

https://ssti.org/blog/useful-stats-quarter-century-look-reveals-relatively-flat-nih-rd-awards#:~:text=Average%20NIH%20funding%20per%20award%2C%20FY%202000%2D2024&text=In%20addition%20to%20making%20more,only%20FYs%202001%20and%202000.

Funding by State (average over past 5 years)

Nearly 82 percent of NIH’s funding is awarded for extramural research, largely through almost 50,000 competitive grants to more than 300,000 researchers at more than 2,500 universities, medical schools, and other research institutions in every state.

This table presents a per state average of NIH funding per state over the last five years.

State Funding (5 Year Average)
Alaska16,446,056
Alabama384,581,140
Arkansas97,405,923
Arizona332,298,627
California5,214,017,339
Colorado540,545,469
Connecticut731,424,134
Delaware76,441,914
Florida831,304,536
Georgia641,506,125
Hawaii62,916,538
Iowa215,139,546
Idaho19,556,646
Illinois1,190,787,955
Indiana386,832,988
Kansas130,575,698
Kentucky241,154,625
Louisiana213,324,728
Massachusetts3,374,258,129
Maryland2,442,016,782
Maine113,584,404
Michigan941,580,032
Minnesota704,196,281
Missouri797,002,130
Mississippi62,010,640
Montana46,517,407
North Carolina2,207,620,131
North Dakota26,592,400
Nebraska142,660,626
New Hampshire123,719,327
New Jersey394,034,710
New Mexico120,819,132
Nevada38,955,428
New York3,484,296,612
Ohio978,505,202
Oklahoma140,345,179
Oregon405,582,608
Pennsylvania2,147,191,899
Rhode Island245,402,346
South Carolina236,996,753
South Dakota27,377,259
Tennessee736,419,987
Texas1,736,045,400
Utah279,169,582
Virginia584,643,852
Vermont63,571,333
Washington1,412,640,142
Wisconsin579,141,843
West Virginia50,569,187
Wyoming12,828,363

Sources:

https://www.govexec.com/workforce/2025/03/nih-faces-renewed-doge-directive-cut-staff-pre-covid-levels-putting-thousands-line-rifs/403593/#:~:text=NIH%20employed%20around%2021%2C100%20employees%20as%20of,around%2015%2C700%20employees%20to%20around%2012%2C700%20employees.

https://ssti.org/blog/useful-stats-quarter-century-look-reveals-relatively-flat-nih-rd-awards#:~:text=Average%20NIH%20funding%20per%20award%2C%20FY%202000%2D2024&text=In%20addition%20to%20making%20more,only%20FYs%202001%20and%202000.