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National Institutes of Health (NIH)

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 As of August 2025, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is undergoing restructuring. This guide reflects NIH’s structure as of January 2025.

This profile focuses on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). For a more general overview of HHS and its relevance to biosecurity, see:

Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS)

HHS plays a crucial role in healthcare, public health, medical research, and social services. The department is responsible for preparing for and responding to biological threats of any kind, including via agencies like CDC, ASPR, NIH, and FDA.

Overview

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is the primary federal agency responsible for conducting and supporting medical and public health research. The agency comprises 27 institutes, centers, and offices focusing on various biomedical research areas, from cancer to infectious diseases to mental health. NIH is the largest funding source for medical research globally, providing grants to universities, hospitals, and private research organizations.

NIH plays an important role in biosecurity through its research, funding, and oversight activities. The agency supports and conducts studies on infectious diseases, emerging pathogens, and potential biological threats, especially through the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), among many other topics. NIH also establishes guidelines and policies through the Office of Science Policy (OSP) for biosafety and biosecurity in research settings, helping to ensure that potentially dangerous pathogens are handled safely. Additionally, the agency collaborates with other government entities and international partners to strengthen global health security, share information, and coordinate responses to biological threats.

Background on NIH

  • Government context: NIH is one of 13 operating divisions within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), one of 15 executive departments in the US government. 
  • Mission: To seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and apply that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability.
  • Main activities: Conducts, supports, and funds biomedical research, trains researchers, disseminates medical information, and translates research findings into health care practice.
  • Budget: $48 billion
  • Staff: 18,700 employees
  • Brief history: NIH traces its roots back to 1887 as the Hygienic Laboratory, a small lab within the Marine Hospital Service focused on screening arriving ship passengers for cholera and yellow fever. Its scope expanded significantly with the Public Health Service Act of 1944, formalizing it as the nation’s primary medical research agency. The 1950s and 1960s saw major growth with institutes focused on cancer, heart disease, and other public health issues. One of its most groundbreaking achievements was the Human Genome Project, launched in 1990 and completed in 2003, which generated the first full sequence of human DNA.

Organizational structure

NIH has a complex and decentralized organizational structure, consisting of 27 Institutes and Centers (ICOs), each of which has its own research agenda focusing on particular diseases or body systems. All but three ICOs receive their funding directly from Congress and manage their own budgets.

The NIH director is appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate. The Office of the Director sets overall policy and coordinates activities across NIH.

Here is an org chart specifically for the Office of the Director. Visit the NIH page for full descriptions of the ICOs and their respective websites. 

Biosecurity and pandemic preparedness in NIH

NIH’s role in biosecurity policy primarily focuses on funding, supporting, and managing risks through fundamental research into infectious diseases. Areas of focus include:

  1. Funding and conducting research: NIH funds research both by external institutions (‘extramural’) and conducts some research itself (‘intramural’). About 80% of NIH spending is extramural research, and the remaining 20% is spent within the agency. NIAID is especially relevant for biosecurity and supports studies on dangerous pathogens, emerging infectious diseases, biosurveillance systems, and predictive modeling for outbreak detection and response. This work contributes to developing vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostic tools that enhance national preparedness against biological threats. 
  1. Developing biosafety and biosecurity guidelines and overseeing dual-use research of concern (DURC): NIH’s OSP, often in collaboration with other agencies, helps establish guidelines for the safe and secure conduct of life sciences research, particularly for work involving dangerous pathogens.
  1. International collaboration and capacity building: Through initiatives like the Fogarty International Center (FIC), NIH supports global efforts to enhance biosecurity and respond to emerging biological threats.
  1. Policy development and advisory roles: NIH provides scientific expertise to inform national biosecurity policies and strategies, participating in interagency working groups on biosecurity and biodefense. NIH leaders often testify before Congress on matters related to biosecurity and pandemic preparedness.

2022 National Biodefense Strategy and Implementation Plan

In 2022, the White House published the government-wide National Biodefense Strategy and Implementation Plan, laying out a whole-of-government plan and outlining the leading or supporting roles each department and agency should play for each subgoal. While NIH is assigned mostly supporting roles, it is tasked with co-leading the development of a research agenda for pathogen characterization, the development of internationally recognized standards for safe and secure characterization of novel pathogens, and strengthening scientific evidence for lab risk management.

NIH responsibilities from the 2022 National Biodefense Strategy

  1. GOAL 1 (p. 18): Enable risk awareness and detection to inform decision-making across the biodefense enterprise
    1. 1.1.1. Detection and Reporting of Biological Threats (Support)
    2. 1.1.2. Biological Threat Sequencing and Analytical Data Sharing (Support)
    3. 1.1.3. Data Integration for Early Warning (Support)
    4. 1.1.4. Biological Threat Assessment and Characterization Capabilities (Lead)
  1. GOAL 2 (p. 22): Ensure biodefense enterprise capabilities to prevent bio incidents. 
    1. 2.2.1. Promote Safe and Secure Biological Laboratories and Practices (Lead)
    2. 2.2.2. Strengthen Responsible Conduct for Biological Research (Support)
    3. 2.2.3. Accelerate biosafety and biosecurity innovation (Support)
    4. 2.2.5 Reduce Zoonotic Pathogen Spillover (Support)
  2. GOAL 3 (p. 26): Ensure biodefense enterprise preparedness to reduce the impacts of bio incidents.
    1. 3.1.2. Strengthen Capacities to Combat Emerging and Zoonotic Disease (Support)
    2. 3.1.3. Promote Evidence-Based Health Communication to the Public (Support)
    3. 3.2.3. Rapid, Low Cost, Point-of-Need Tests (Support)
    4. 3.4.4. Vaccine Administration and Allocation (Support)
    5. 3.5.3. Controlling Counterproductive Responses to Infection (Support)
  1. GOAL 4 (p. 33): Rapidly respond to limit the impacts of bio incidents.
    1. 4.1.3 Coordinate Real-Time Research for Response (Support)
    2. 4.1.4. Innovative Clinical-Trial Infrastructure (Support)
  2. GOAL 5 (p. 35): Facilitate recovery to restore the community, the economy, and the environment after a bio incident
    1. 5.1.1 Recovery Planning and Implementation (Lead)

During the COVID-19 pandemic, NIH played a role in developing vaccines, treatments, and testing strategies. NIH disbursed nearly $5 billion in funding for COVID-19 research on diagnostic tests, vaccines, and treatments. NIH helped coordinate COVID-19 research strategies both within the agency and among external public-private stakeholders. The agency published regular treatment guidelines for patients with COVID-19 throughout the pandemic, and scientists from NIH’s NIAID co-developed the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. NIH has also been recognized for the role FIC grantees and trainees played in the research response to COVID-19 in other countries. Visit the NIH Strategic Response page for a full accounting of the agency’s role during the pandemic.

More recent biosecurity-related developments are listed below (not comprehensive):

Major recent biosecurity-related developments at NIH

NIH offices working on biosecurity policy

Given NIH’s structure of dozens of decentralized ICOs with broad scopes, many parts of the agency work on biosecurity-related topics. But three ICOs have biosecurity concerns as a core focus of their mission: The Office of Science Policy, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and the Fogarty International Center.

Below is a list of NIH components relevant to biosecurity (non-exhaustive):

There’s a list of office names and descriptions here, which are omitted from this narration.

  • Office of Science Policy (OSP): advises on biomedical research policy issues, including biosafety, biosecurity, and emerging technologies. It coordinates across NIH and external stakeholders to develop policies that ensure responsible research practices and promote innovation. The OSP also addresses ethical considerations and oversees research integrity and public communication of science policy. OSP has 11 policy areas, including biosafety and biosecurity and (to a lesser extent) AI. OSP sits within the Office of the NIH Director and comprises five operating divisions.
    • Division of Biosafety, Biosecurity, and Emerging Biotechnologies (BBEBP): develops and implements policies related to biosafety, biosecurity, and emerging biotechnologies. This division plays a prominent role in coordinating biosecurity DURC/PEPP implementation within NIH and is responsible for the NIH Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant or Synthetic Nucleic Acid Molecules, which are biosafety guidelines that institutes funded by NIH must follow. 
    • National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB): advises the US government on biosecurity and dual-use biology research issues. NSABB is an HHS advisory committee that consists of up to 25 voting members with expertise in fields such as molecular biology, infectious diseases, public health, national security, and biosafety. NSABB’s work most recently led to the March 2023 Proposed Biosecurity Oversight Framework for the Future of Science, which helped inform the recent OSTP DURC/PEPP policy update. OSP provides management and support services to NSABB. 
  • National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID): conducts and supports research on infectious and immune-mediated diseases such as HIV/AIDS, influenza, and emerging diseases like COVID-19. NIAID also contributes to vaccine development and global health initiatives. NIAID is structured into extramural research divisions (funds or conducts research at external institutions) and intramural divisions (conducts research in NIAID labs). NIAID maintains a network of biosafety level 4 (BSL-4) laboratories for studying the most dangerous pathogens.
    • Office of the Director (NIAID OD): sets institute programs, plans, and policies, while providing management, analysis, reporting, scientific leadership, and operational coordination.
      • Office of Biodefense Research and Surety (OBRS): coordinates and implements biodefense research, the Chemical Countermeasures Research Program, and emergency preparedness and continuity planning. OBRS also serves as a liaison for intelligence and biodefense-related matters across NIH and federal agencies.
      • Division of Occupational Health and Safety (DOHS): responsible for the health and safety of those who work at NIH, including biosecurity policy advising and biosafety work.
    • Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (DMID): provides funding and resources for basic research, preclinical development, and clinical evaluation related to diseases caused by almost all human infectious agents (except HIV).
    • Vaccine Research Center (VRC): conducts intramural research on vaccine development. The VRC contributed meaningfully to the rapid development of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. Pandemic preparedness is among VRC’s primary research areas.
  • Fogarty International Center (FIC): fosters international collaborations by funding research and capacity-building efforts aimed at addressing health challenges in low- and middle-income countries. Disease area focuses include HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis.
    • Division of International Epidemiology and Population Studies (DIEPS): conducts original research in epidemiology, disease modeling, pathogen genomics, and implementation sciences to strengthen international health policies. It also builds research capacity in low- and middle-income countries through training and collaboration in these areas, with a focus on biorisk management and childhood health.
    • Division of International Training and Research (DITR): administers research and training grants, including those focused on strengthening disease surveillance and preparing the global scientific workforce to address health threats from infectious diseases.
    • Division of International Relations (DIR): supports and often represents NIH on international matters. It manages NIH-wide international programs, facilitates collaborations with foreign agencies, hosts foreign delegations, and liaises between NIH and other US government agencies.

Working at NIH

NIH offers a wide range of career opportunities including for those interested in conducting intramural research, overseeing funding to extramural research, engaging in international collaboration, and informing biosecurity and DURC policy. NIH’s main campus and most positions are located in Bethesda, MD, but there are also many smaller satellite facilities located around the United States.

To find open positions, visit the NIH jobs page (or visit USAJOBS and filter for “National Institutes of Health”) and subscribe to NIH’s jobs newsletter. NIAID also has its own jobs page. You can also follow NIH, OSP, NIAID, and FIC on LinkedIn for updates on job postings and agency activities.

Notable early-career opportunities (e.g. internships, fellowships) at NIH include:

There’s a list of fellowship and internship programs here, which are omitted from this narration.

Further reading

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