The NIH Almanac
Office of the Director, NIH
The NIH comprises the Office of the Director and 27 Institutes and Centers. The Office of the Director (OD) is the central office at NIH. The OD is responsible for setting policy for NIH and for planning, managing, and coordinating the programs and activities of all the NIH components.
The NIH Director provides overall leadership to NIH activities in both scientific and administrative matters. Although each institute within the NIH has a separate mission, the NIH Director plays an active role in shaping the agency's research agenda and outlook. With a unique and critical perspective on the mission of the entire NIH, the Director is responsible for providing leadership to the institutes for identifying needs and opportunities, especially for efforts that involve several institutes. The NIH Director is assisted by the Principal Deputy Director, who shares in the overall direction of the agency's activities.
In carrying out these responsibilities, the NIH Director stays informed about program priorities and accomplishments through regular staff meetings, discussions, and briefing sessions with OD and institute staff. The Director also receives input from:
- the extramural scientific community, including both individual researchers and scientific organizations
- patient advocacy and voluntary health groups that deal directly with NIH or indirectly through Congress and the media
- the Congress, the Administration, and the Director's Council of Public Representatives, which brings public views to NIH.
Ongoing discussions with these groups and others provide the basis for an established framework within which priorities for the agency are identified, reviewed, and justified.
The following describes the major offices in within the NIH Office of the Director:
Research, Funding, and Coordination
Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic
Initiatives (DPCPSI)
The Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives
identifies and reports on research that represents important areas
of emerging scientific opportunities, rising public health challenges,
or knowledge gaps that deserve special emphasis. Such research
benefits from conducting or supporting additional research that
involves collaboration between 2 or more NIH Institutes or Centers,
or would otherwise benefit from strategic coordination and planning.
The Division also coordinates research and activities related to
research on AIDS, behavioral and social sciences, women's health,
disease prevention, rare diseases, and dietary supplements and
includes a new office on strategic coordination.
Office of Extramural Research (OER)
The Office of Extramural Research provides the corporate framework
for the NIH research administration and works to ensure the scientific
integrity, public accountability, and effective stewardship of
the NIH research grant portfolio.
Office of Intramural Research (OIR)
The Office of Intramural Research is responsible for oversight
and coordination of intramural research, training, and technology
transfer conducted within the laboratories and clinics of the
National Institutes of Health. Comprising less than 10% of the
NIH budget, the program includes the NIH Clinical Center research
hospital and the National Library of Medicine and supports approximately
1,200 principal investigators and 8,000 scientific staff.
Communications
Office of Communications and Public Liaison (OCPL)
The Office of Communications and Public Liaison advises the Director
and communicates information about NIH policies, programs, and
research results to the general public. OCPL also encourages
broad national public participation in NIH activities, helps
to resolve local community concerns, and coordinates how NIH
implements the Freedom of Information Act.
Policy
Office of Science Policy (OSP)
The Office of Science Policy advises the NIH Director on science
policy issues affecting the medical research community; participates
in the development of new policy and program initiatives; monitors
and coordinates agency planning and evaluation activities; plans
and implements a comprehensive science education program; and
develops and implements NIH policies and procedures for the safe
conduct of recombinant DNA activities.
Office of Legislative Policy and Analysis (OLPA)
The Office of Legislative Policy and Analysis serves as the principal
legislative policy, analysis, and development office for the
Director and other senior NIH staff; develops legislative policy
and proposals; and provides analysis and liaison with Congress,
the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and other Federal
agencies on issues affecting NIH programs and activities.
Administration and Services
Executive Office (ODEO)
The Executive Office serves in both a staff and an operational
capacity for all administrative support activities for the Office
of the Director (OD), excluding the Office of Research Services.
NIH Ethics Office
The NIH Ethics Office provides oversight and strategic direction
of NIH activities relating to ethics policy, oversight, and operational
activities; develops and administers the NIH policies and procedures
for implementing the Government-wide conflict of interest statutes
and regulations, the HHS supplemental conflict of interest regulations,
and HHS policies; implements a program for trans-NIH ethics oversight
that includes information technology (IT) support systems, periodic
reviews, audits, delegations of authority, training, and records
management; determines real or potential conflicts of interest
and assesses ethical considerations in scientific reporting,
clinical trials, and scientific conferences and workshops; and
serves as the liaison and coordinates the NIH response to requests
from Congress, the Inspector General, HHS, and the Office of
Government Ethics, and performs appropriate liaison activities.
Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO)
The Office of the Chief Information Officer provides leadership
and management support to empower NIH Institutes and Centers
to acquire, manage and deliver IT solutions in ways that are
innovative, well planned, secure and fiscally responsible. In
this way, OCIO ensures that all Information and Information Technology
used by the NIH supports the business needs in the best possible
way.
Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity Management
(OEODM)
The Office of Equal Opportunity and Diversity Management serves
as the focal point for NIH-wide policy formulation, implementation,
coordination, and management of the civil rights, equal opportunity,
affirmative employment, and workforce diversity programs of the
NIH.
Office of Management (OM)
The Office of Management advises the NIH Director and staff on
all phases of NIH-wide administration and management. The OM
includes the following offices:
- Office of Acquisition and Logistics Management (OALM) advises the NIH Director and staff on acquisition and logistics activities and contract and grant financial advisory services; provides leadership and guidance to NIH components on acquisition and logistics administration and management; and develops/implements policies, provides oversight, and manages the operational components in the areas of acquisition and logistics management.
- Office of Budget (OB) has primary responsibility for NIH-wide budget policy, planning, analysis, formulation, and presentation. OB is also responsible for budget management once appropriations have been made, including reprogramming and coordination of the use of the Director's Discretionary Fund and transfer authority. OB provides budget advice to the NIH Director and to senior officials within the OD and the NIH Institutes and Centers.
- Office of Financial Management (OFM) advises the NIH Director and staff and provides leadership and direction for NIH financial management activities; develops policies and instructions for budget preparation and presentation; administers allocation of funds; and manages a system of fund and budgetary controls.
- Office of Human Resources (OHR) advises the NIH Director and staff on human resource (HR) management; directs HR management services; provides NIH leadership and planning on HR program development, salary administration, corporate recruitment, and other functions; and conducts studies and makes recommendations to senior NIH management for new or redirected HR efforts, programs, and policies, as appropriate.
- Office of Management Assessment (OMA) provides NIH-wide management of activities/oversight and advice to the NIH Institutes and Centers on management reviews/corrective actions involving program integrity (including fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement reviews), OIG/GAO/Outside review liaison, management control, quality management, risk management, best practices, continuous improvement, regulations, delegations of authority, A-76/FAIR Act, Privacy Act requirements, records and forms management, organizational and functional analysis, NIH manual chapters, and guidance and oversight on the control and safeguarding of classified national security information.
- Office of Research Facilities Development and Operations (ORF) supports the advancement of NIH scientific and program priorities by planning, designing, constructing, managing, and maintaining state-of-the-science facilities critical to new and expanding research initiatives and the NIH mission. ORF is the single point of accountability for all NIH facility activities and is responsible for assisting the NIH Director with the formulation and execution of the Buildings and Facilities appropriation; developing and maintaining policies and standards governing the use of real property; planning and directing facility-related services such as master planning and construction, renovation, maintenance, and management of real property; providing centralized acquisition services for architecture, engineering, and construction contracting and for real property purchasing and leasing activities; and protecting the NIH environment.
- Office of Research Services (ORS) provides a comprehensive portfolio of services to support the biomedical research mission of the NIH. Some examples of the diverse services ORS provides include: laboratory safety, security and emergency response, veterinary resources, the NIH Library, events management, travel and transportation, services for foreign scientists, and programs to enrich and enhance the NIH worksite.
- Office of Strategic Management Planning (OSMP) provides assistance to the NIH leadership with the development and accomplishment of goalsand strategic and technical plans for emerging and ongoing human capital programs; preparation of NIH programs and support activities to achieve the long-term goals of the NIH mission; and implementation, operation, and evaluation of key workforce programs. OSMP develops and accomplishes short- and long-range initiatives through an active and ongoing partnership with the staff of the NIH Office of Human Resources and other NIH components.
Office of the Ombudsman/Center for Cooperative Resolution
The NIH Office of the Ombudsman, Center for Cooperative Resolution
provides the NIH community with confidential and informal assistance
in resolving work-related conflicts, disputes and grievances;
promotes fair and equitable treatment within NIH; offers effective,
efficient and innovative dispute resolution services; helps people
use non-adversarial approaches in resolving disputes; and works
toward improving the overall quality of worklife at NIH.
Program Coordination
Program offices within the Office of the Director are responsible for encouraging and coordinating specific areas of research throughout NIH and for planning and supporting research and related activities. The program offices fund research through the NIH institutes and centers.
Office of AIDS Research (OAR)
The Office of AIDS Research formulates scientific policy, and recommends
allocation of research resources, for AIDS research at NIH.
Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR)
The Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research advises the
NIH Director and other key officials on matters relating to research
on the role of human behaviors in the development of health,
prevention of disease, and therapeutic intervention. Established
by the U.S. Congress as part of the NIH Office of the Director,
its mission is to stimulate behavioral and social sciences research
throughout NIH and to integrate it more fully into the NIH research
enterprise.
Office of Disease Prevention (ODP)
The Office of Disease Prevention coordinates the activities of
disease prevention, rare diseases, dietary supplements, and medical
applications of research, and advises the NIH Director and senior
staff on related matters.
Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH)
The Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH) provides leadership
across the NIH to improve the health of women by promoting, coordinating,
and supporting women's health and sex differences research. Working
in partnership with the NIH Institutes and Centers, ORWH strives
to ensure the inclusion of women in NIH research, especially
minority women, and supports career development for scientists
focused on women’s health research.
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