The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and is considered the nation’s medical research agency — making important discoveries that improve health and save lives.
That mission overlaps with UCLA’s research and discovery goals frequently. NIH invests tens of billions of dollars into health research every year, and UCLA is a consistent recipient of grants that total in the hundreds of millions of dollars — $387.4 million in 2016, to be exact, which is about 64 percent of all federal money coming into the university.
This year NIH again came under the microscope, originally facing a suggestion from President Donald Trump’s administration for Congress to cut its funding by about 20 percent. Instead it saw a $1.1 billion increase for Fiscal Year 2018. The good news is that NIH has increased by almost $50 million versus Fiscal Year 2013 — an indication of bipartisan support.
As a celebration of all the work taking place at UCLA with the help of money from NIH, we’ve compiled a list of some of the more exciting discoveries and research that took place during the calendar year below.
- Research reveals how diabetes in pregnancy affects baby’s heart >>
- Sleep biology discovery could lead to new insomnia treatments that don’t target the brain >>
- Researchers create molecule that could ‘kick and kill’ HIV >>
- New tool predicts risk of heart attack in older surgery patients >>
- Biomarkers can reveal traumatic brain injury, even when concussions don’t show up on CAT scan >>
- UCLA researchers demonstrate new material that could aid body’s cellular repair process >>
- UCLA biologists slow aging, extend lifespan of fruit flies >>
- NIH awards almost $10 million to UCLA Center for Autism Research and Treatment >>
- $5 million grant from NIH will enable UCLA to develop new models for autism >>
- Population of Americans with Alzheimer’s will more than double by 2060, UCLA study shows >>
