The National Institutes of Health ( NIH ) is the primary agency of the
United States government responsible for biomedical and public health
research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department
of Health and Human Services (HHS). Many 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 scientific research through the NIH Intramural Research
Program (IRP) and provides significant biomedical research funding to non-NIH
research facilities through its Extramural Research Program.