![]() | |
Agency overview | |
---|---|
Formed | June 16, 1948 |
Jurisdiction | Federal government of the United States |
Agency executive |
|
Parent department | United States Department of Health and Human Services |
Parent agency | National Institutes of Health |
Website | www |
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) is the third largest Institute of the National Institutes of Health, located in Bethesda, Maryland, United States. It is tasked with allocating about $3.6 billion in FY 2020 [1] in tax revenue to advancing the understanding of the following issues: development and progression of disease, diagnosis of disease, treatment of disease, disease prevention, reduction of health care disparities within the American population, and advancing the effectiveness of the US medical system. NHLBI's Director is Gary H. Gibbons (2012–present).
In 1948, the National Heart Act established the National Heart Institute and the National Advisory Heart Council. The intramural research program was established a year later in 1949. In 1969, the National Heart Institute was renamed the National Heart and Lung Institute, and the scope of the institute was expanded. In 1976, it was given its current name, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. It had been designated as the agency responsible for blood research by the National Heart, Blood Vessel, Lung, and Blood Act of 1972, after the newly created National Sickle Cell Disease Program was put under its aegis. [2]
The Institute plans, conducts, fosters, and supports an integrated and coordinated program of basic research, clinical investigations and trials, observational studies, and demonstration and education projects. [3] Research is related to the causes, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of heart, blood vessel, lung, and blood diseases, and sleep disorders. The NHLBI plans and directs research in development and evaluation of interventions and devices related to prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation of patients with such diseases and disorders. It also supports research on clinical use of blood and all aspects of the management of blood resources. Research by scientific institutions and individuals is supported by research grants and contracts through the NHLBI Extramural Program, while the NHLBI Division of Intramural Research conducts state-of-the-art research on the NIH Bethesda campus in its own laboratories.[ citation needed ]
For health professionals and the public, the NHLBI conducts educational activities, including development and dissemination of materials in the above areas, with an emphasis on prevention.[ citation needed ]
The NHLBI supports research training and career development of new and established researchers in fundamental sciences and clinical disciplines to enable them to conduct basic and clinical research related to heart, blood vessel, lung, and blood diseases, sleep disorders, and blood resources through individual and institutional research training awards (T90/R90), career development awards (K), and fellowships (i.e. T32/F32).[ citation needed ]
The NHLBI coordinates relevant activities in the above areas, including the related causes of stroke, with other research institutes and federal health programs. Relationships are maintained with institutions and professional associations, and with international, national, state, and local officials as well as voluntary agencies and organizations working in the above areas.[ citation needed ]
The NHLBI Division of Intramural Research (DIR) [4] in Bethesda conducts research and training in a wide variety of areas broadly related to the mission of the institute, both clinical research and basic science research. There are 60 investigators, each of whom runs their own research program. They are supported by a group of core services that implement state-of-the-art techniques available to all NHLBI investigators. Marshall Nirenberg, Nobel laureate for his part in the discovery of the genetic code, became the head of the Section of Biochemical Genetics in 1962. The DIR also has a large training component, with opportunities for undergraduate, graduate, and medical students as well as post-doctoral training.
The NHLBI sponsors National Wear Red Day and the Heart Truth campaign, a national awareness campaign for women about heart disease.
The research arm of the institute is organized into the following divisions: [2]
List of NHLBI directors from 1948 - present [5]
Portrait | Director | Took office | Left office |
---|---|---|---|
![]() | Cassius James Van Slyke | August 1, 1948 | November 30, 1952 |
![]() | James Watt | December 1, 1952 | September 10, 1961 |
![]() | Ralph E. Knutti | September 11, 1961 | July 31, 1965 |
![]() | William H. Stewart | August 1, 1965 | September 24, 1965 |
![]() | Robert P. Grant | March 8, 1966 | August 15, 1966 |
![]() | Donald S. Fredrickson | November 6, 1966 | March 1968 |
![]() | Theodore Cooper | March 15, 1968 | April 19, 1974 |
![]() | Robert I. Levy | September 16, 1975 | June 1981 |
![]() | Claude Lenfant | July 1, 1982 | September 2, 2003 |
![]() | Barbara Alving (acting) | September 3, 2003 | January 31, 2005 |
![]() | Elizabeth Nabel | February 1, 2005 | November 30, 2009 |
![]() | Susan Shurin (acting) | December 1, 2009 | August 10, 2012 |
![]() | Gary H. Gibbons | August 13, 2012 | Present |
The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH, is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late 1880s and is now part of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. Many NIH facilities are located in Bethesda, Maryland, and other nearby suburbs of the Washington metropolitan area, with other primary facilities in the Research Triangle Park in North Carolina and smaller satellite facilities located around the United States. The NIH conducts its own scientific research through the NIH Intramural Research Program (IRP) and provides major biomedical research funding to non-NIH research facilities through its Extramural Research Program.
The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) is a part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). It conducts and funds research on brain and nervous system disorders and has a budget of just over US$2.03 billion. The mission of NINDS is "to reduce the burden of neurological disease—a burden borne by every age group, every segment of society, and people all over the world". NINDS has established two major branches for research: an extramural branch that funds studies outside the NIH, and an intramural branch that funds research inside the NIH. Most of NINDS' budget goes to fund extramural research. NINDS' basic science research focuses on studies of the fundamental biology of the brain and nervous system, genetics, neurodegeneration, learning and memory, motor control, brain repair, and synapses. NINDS also funds clinical research related to diseases and disorders of the brain and nervous system, e.g. AIDS, Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injury, stroke, and traumatic brain injury.
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is one of 27 institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The NIH, in turn, is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research.
The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) is one of the institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health, an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases is one of the 27 institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health (NIH), an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). NIAID's mission is to conduct basic and applied research to better understand, treat, and prevent infectious, immunologic, and allergic diseases.
The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) is one of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the United States Department of Health and Human Services. It supports and conducts research aimed at improving the health of children, adults, families, and communities, including:
The National Institute on Aging (NIA) is a division of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH), located in Bethesda, Maryland. The NIA itself is headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland.
Susan Shurin is a senior adviser at the National Cancer Institute. From 2006–2014, she served as Deputy and Acting Director of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute at the National Institutes of Health.
The NIH Clinical Center is a hospital solely dedicated to clinical research at the National Institutes of Health campus in Bethesda, Maryland. The Clinical Center, known as Building 10, consists of the original part of the hospital, the Warren Grant Magnuson Clinical Center, and the newest addition, the Mark O. Hatfield Clinical Research Center. The two parts are connected to form one large building.
The NIH Intramural Research Program (IRP) is the internal research program of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), known for its synergistic approach to biomedical science. With 1,200 Principal Investigators and over 4,000 Postdoctoral Fellows conducting basic, translational, and clinical research, the NIH Intramural Research Program is the largest biomedical research institution on earth. The unique funding environment of the IRP facilitates opportunities to conduct both long-term and high-impact science that would otherwise be difficult to undertake. With rigorous external reviews ensuring that only the most outstanding research secures funding, the IRP is responsible for many scientific accomplishments, including the discovery of fluoride to prevent tooth decay, the use of lithium to manage bipolar disorder, and the creation of vaccines against hepatitis, Hemophilus influenzae (Hib), and human papillomavirus (HPV). In addition, the IRP has also produced or trained 21 Nobel Prize-winning scientists.
The Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network (RDCRN) is an initiative of the US Office of Rare Diseases Research (ORDR). RDCRN is funded by the ORDR, the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences and collaborating institute centers. The RDCRN is designed to advance medical research on rare diseases by providing support for clinical studies and facilitating collaboration, study enrollment and data sharing. Through the RDCRN consortia, physician scientists and their multidisciplinary teams work together with patient advocacy groups to study more than 200 rare diseases at sites across the nation.
The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) is part of the United States National Institutes of Health, which in turn is part of the Department of Health and Human Services. NIDDK is approximately the fifth-largest of the 27 NIH institutes. The institute's mission is to support research, training, and communication with the public in the topic areas of "diabetes and other endocrine and metabolic diseases; digestive diseases, nutritional disorders, and obesity; and kidney, urologic, and hematologic diseases". As of 2021, the Director of the institute is Griffin P. Rodgers, who assumed the position on an acting basis in 2006 and on a permanent basis in 2007.
Emily Ying Chew is an American ophthalmologist and an expert on the human retina with a strong clinical and research interest in diabetic eye disease and age-related eye diseases. She currently works for the National Eye Institute (NEI) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, Maryland, where she serves as deputy director of the Division of Epidemiology and Clinical Applications (DECA) and the Institute's deputy clinical director. She designs and implements Phase 1, 2 and 3 clinical trials at the NIH Clinical Center. Chew is board certified in ophthalmology.
Clare M. Waterman is a cell biologist who has worked on understanding the role of the cytoskeleton in cell migration. Waterman is a Distinguished Investigator, Chief of the Laboratory of Cell and Tissue Morphodynamics, and Director of the Cell and Developmental Biology Center at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda MD, USA. Waterman has received several awards and honors, including the Sackler International prize in Biophysics, the NIH Director’s Pioneer Award, and the Arthur S. Flemming Award for Public Service. In 2018, she was elected to the National Academy of Sciences. She currently serves on the editorial boards of eLife, Current Biology and Journal of Microscopy.
James M. Anderson is an American Professor of Medicine and Cell Biology and is a Chief of Section of Digestive Diseases at the Yale School of Medicine. Anderson is also a director of the Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives at the National Institutes of Health.
Stephanie L. Constant is an American immunologist and science administrator. She was an associate professor at George Washington University and a scientific review officer at National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute before becoming chief of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences Office of Scientific Review in 2017.
Jodi Beth Black is an American microbiologist and research administrator serving as deputy director of the Office of Extramural Research at the National Institutes of Health. She was previously the director and vice president of research administration at the Translational Genomics Research Institute and the acting director of the division of extramural activities at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
Courtney D. Fitzhugh is an American hematologist-oncologist and scientist. She is a clinical researcher and head of the laboratory of early sickle cell mortality prevention at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
Cynthia Dunbar is an American scientist and hematologist at the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), which is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). She is the Branch Chief of the Translational Stem Cell Biology Branch.
Neelam K. Giri is an Indian pediatric hematologist/oncologist and physician-scientist who researches bone marrow failure syndromes. She is a staff clinician in the clinical genetics branch at the National Cancer Institute.