The National Institutes of Health (NIH) 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.
[1] It comprises 27 separate institutes and centers (ICs) that carry out its mission in different areas of biomedical research.
It also includes the Office of the Director, which sets policies and coordinates activities of the 27 ICs.
[11] In July 2009, President Barack Obama nominated Dr. Francis S. Collins, M.D., PhD, to be the Director of the NIH.
[22] Modeled after DARPA, HSARPA, IARPA, and ARPA-E, it is intended to pursue unconventional research projects through methods not typically used by federal agencies or private sector companies.