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.
