Fiscal Year 2010 Budget in Brief

National Institutes of Health

OVERVIEW BY INSTITUTE
(dollars in millions)

^1/ These funds were pre-appropriated in P.L. 107-360 and the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007.

*American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act)

The National Institutes of Health uncovers new knowledge that will lead to better health for everyone.

The FY 2010 Budget requests $31.0 billion for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), an increase of $443 million, or 1.4 percent over the FY 2009 enacted level, excluding funds provided in the Recovery Act. Substantial investment in biomedical research over the past 40 years, led by NIH, has successfully contributed to reducing the morbidity and mortality of many fatal conditions by improving treatments. This has changed the landscape of disease from acute to chronic diseases, which now account for over 75 percent of annual health care expenditures in the United States. The Nation has witnessed dramatic reductions in death rates from heart disease and stroke, declines in cancer incidence and mortality, increases in cancer survivorship, and improvements in the capacity to rapidly diagnose and control new infectious diseases shortly after they emerge.

NIH is the world's largest and most distinguished organization dedicated to maintaining and improving health through medical science. Its budget is composed of 27 appropriations for its Institutes and Centers, Office of the Director, and Buildings and Facilities. In FY 2010, about 84 percent of the funds appropriated to NIH will flow out to the extramural community, which supports work by more than 300,000 scientists and research personnel affiliated with over 3,100 organizations, including universities, medical schools, hospitals, and other research facilities. About 10 percent of the budget will support an in-house, or intramural, program of basic and clinical research activities managed by world-class physicians and scientists. This intramural research program, which includes the NIH Clinical Center, gives our Nation the unparalleled ability to respond immediately to national and global health challenges. Another 6 percent will provide for agency leadership, research management and support, and facilities maintenance and improvements.

ADDRESSING RESEARCH PRIORITIES IN FY 2010

In fulfilling its mission, NIH strives to maintain a diverse portfolio of research founded on both public health need and scientific opportunity. In FY 2010, the $31.0 billion Budget request, along with remaining Recovery Act funds, will pursue cross-cutting areas of discovery, support new research investigators, and continue programs for translating clinical research results into clinical practice.

The President’s Budget for NIH highlights several initiatives.

Cancer: The FY 2010 President’s Budget proposes to invest over $6 billion for cancer research across NIH, reflecting the first year of an eight-year strategy to double cancer research by FY 2017. The FY 2010 Budget request represents an increase of $268 million, or 5 percent, over estimated FY 2009 base cancer spending. NIH is formulating a strategic plan for the NIH-wide cancer doubling effort, with specific long-term and annual performance goals. This will ensure that the resources invested will have the greatest possible impact on developing innovative diagnostics, treatments, and cures for cancer.

Autism: As part of a $211 million HHS-wide initiative that would invest an additional $1 billion over the next eight years in autism related activities, the NIH budget includes $141 million in FY 2010 for research into the causes of and treatments for autism spectrum disorders (ASD). For NIH, this represents an increase of $19 million, or 16 percent above the estimated base FY 2009 level. NIH expects to use these funds to help implement the objectives of the Strategic Plan for ASD Research, as developed by the Interagency Autism Coordination Committee. These objectives include identifying biomarkers; improving ASD screening; establishing ASD registries; understanding genetic and environmental risk factors, as well as interactions between the immune and central nervous systems; and enhancing services that can help people with ASD across the lifespan.

Stem Cells: On March 9, 2009, President Obama issued Executive Order 13505 removing previous restrictions on Federal research involving human embryonic stem cells and directing NIH to expand support for human stem cell research. Within 120 days of the date of the Order, the Secretary, working through NIH, will review existing NIH guidance and other widely recognized guidelines on human stem cell research, including provisions establishing appropriate safeguards, and issue new guidance on such research consistent with the Executive Order. These guidelines have been drafted, and as of April 17, 2009, are open to public review and comment for 30 days before being issued. NIH will later estimate how much it will spend on human stem cell research in FY 2010 under the new guidelines. NIH estimates that support in this area will expand substantially, based on scientific opportunity and merit.

HIV/AIDS: NIH estimates it will devote nearly $3.1 billion for research on HIV/AIDS in FY 2010. Controlling and ultimately eliminating HIV/AIDS will require safe, effective vaccines and other preventive measures. Developing such vaccines remains a priority and one of NIH’s greatest challenges. This effort will require significant advances in basic research to both better understand the virus and the disease and to develop new vaccine strategies. In addition to these funds, the budget for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases includes $300 million, the same level as in FY 2009, as part of the United States Government’s $900 million contribution to the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis in FY 2010.

NIH Common Fund: The FY 2010 Budget allocates a total of $549 million, an increase of $8 million, or 1.5 percent over FY 2009, to continue support for trans-NIH Common Fund initiatives. These funds are included in the Office of the Director appropriation. This mechanism will continue to serve as an incubator for new projects that can overcome complex research barriers and accelerate the pace of discovery for new disease treatments, prevention strategies, and diagnostics across all Institutes and Centers.

New Investigators: The foundation of the research enterprise is talented, creative, and dedicated research personnel. Fulfilling the NIH mission requires that the agency sustain a vibrant extramural and intramural workforce, including sufficient numbers of new investigators with new ideas and new skills, especially in interdisciplinary fields of research. NIH is working to stem the trend of increases in the average age of first-time principal investigators obtaining independent research funding from NIH. NIH is aiming to have similar success rates between new investigators and new applications from established principal investigators. NIH will also focus on Early-Stage Investigators (i.e., a new investigator within 10 years of terminal degree or completion of medical residency). In FY 2010, NIH will modify data collection on the eRA Commons to better track and monitor this category of research applicant.

No funds are included in FY 2010 for the NIH Director’s Bridge Awards (-$91 million), as Recovery Act funds are being used in FY 2009 and FY 2010 for similar purposes of supporting promising new and established researchers that may have otherwise just missed the cutoff line for grant awards.

Clinical Research Translation: To meet the profound challenges of 21PstP century medicine and capitalize on Common Fund initiatives, NIH developed a new Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) beginning in FY 2006. These awards help advance information technology, integrate research networks, stimulate the development of computer-assisted outcome measurement, and improve workforce training. NIH will continue to transition elements of existing clinical research programs, primarily the General Clinical Research Centers (GCRCs) in the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), into CTSAs as these programs complete their current funding cycles. In FY 2010, the total CTSA/GCRC program is estimated to be $467 million, including an increase of $20 million in new and reallocated funds within NCRR. Also within the total CTSA/GCRC program, $25 million will be provided from the Common Fund.

RESEARCH PROJECT GRANTS

The $16.4 billion provided in FY 2010 for support of medical research through competitive, peer-reviewed, and investigator-initiated research project grants (RPGs) represents 53 percent of the total NIH Budget request. NIH estimates it will support 9,849 new and competing RPGs in FY 2010, an increase of 7 above the number estimated for FY 2009, excluding Recovery Act funds. The average cost of a new and competing research project grant in FY 2010 will be about $400,000, an increase of two percent above the FY 2009 estimate. The total number of RPGs to be supported in FY 2010 is expected to be 38,042, an increase of 171 over the FY 2009 non Recovery Act level.

EXTRAMURAL RESEARCH FACILITIES CONSTRUCTION AND RENOVATION

No funds are requested in the FY 2010 Budget for extramural research facilities construction and

renovation. In FY 2010, NIH will continue to award extramural facilities projects funded through the $1.0 billion provided in FY 2009 for this purpose in the Recovery Act.

INTRAMURAL BUILDINGS AND FACILITIES

A total of $133 million is requested for NIH Intramural Buildings and Facilities (B&F) in FY 2010, the same level as in FY 2009, to sustain and improve the physical infrastructure used to carry out quality biomedical research on the NIH campuses. This is in addition to the $500 million NIH received in the Recovery Act for intramural facilities construction and repairs.

In FY 2010, NIH will focus on upgrading facilities to ensure essential safety and regulatory compliance, as well as on facility repairs and improvements to address the most critical utility systems, fire safety, and environmental deficiencies. The FY 2010 Budget request also includes $15 million to build an additional child care center on the NIH Bethesda campus. Within the B&F mechanism total, $8 million is appropriated to the National Cancer Institute for facilities projects at its Frederick, Maryland campus.

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds are
available for obligation in both FY 2009 and FY 2010.

OVERVIEW BY MECHANISM
(dollars in millions)

^1/ These funds were pre-appropriated in P.L. 107-360 and the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007.

*American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act)

FY 2010 Budget in Brief Home