The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary federal biomedical research agency in the United States; its goals are to improve national health through discovery and innovation, foster resources that prevent disease, expand the biomedical knowledge base, and to promote high-level scientific conduct. These goals support NIH’s mission to “enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce the burdens of illness and disability” through supporting and conducting scientific research.
It was founded in the late 1880s and is now part of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. The majority of 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 its Intramural Research Program (IRP) and provides major biomedical research funding to non-NIH research facilities through its Extramural Research Program.
The NIH comprises 27 separate institutes and centers of different biomedical disciplines and 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, Haemophilus influenzae (HIB), and human papillomavirus (HPV).
According to en.wikipedia; researchamerica.org. Source of photo: internet
