NIH Public-Private Partnership Program

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Foundation for the National Institutes of Health

Foundation for the National Institutes of Health (FNIH) was established by the United States Congress as a 501(c) (3) charitable foundation to support the mission of the NIH and to advance collaboration with biomedical researchers from universities, industry, and nonprofit organizations. Guided by a board of directors composed of distinguished leaders in biomedical research, philanthropy, and business, the FNIH works to advance NIH biomedical research by forming public-private partnerships (PPPs) with donors. As a non-governmental entity, FNIH is not subject to a variety of policies and regulations that NIH as an agency of the U.S. government is bound by, thus allowing FNIH to have a unique role in PPPs. FNIH activities range from fund-raising to support NIH initiatives and activities, meeting sponsorship to engender scientific dialogue, and hands-on management of projects including the publication of funding initiatives, scientific review, and award management. FNIH staff includes development specialists, science and project managers, as well as individuals devoted to partnership development and implementation. FNIH works closely with NIH to ensure PPPs that promote the public health and serve the mission of NIH.

FNIH supports medical research at NIH through public-private partnerships of all sizes and configurations. They range in scope from:

Much of the Foundation’s focus is on identifying partners (including organizations and individuals) and matching donors’ interests to specific NIH needs. However, corporations, individuals, or foundations can bring an idea to FNIH, which then works with donors to assess which of the extraordinary array of existing and prospective programs within NIH’s priorities would be most relevant to their interest.

FNIH works closely with the NIH Institutes and Centers in both developing and facilitating the partnerships. For more information on the FNIH, please visit: http://www.fnih.org/.

Office of Science Policy (OSP), NIH Office of the Director, serves as the official NIH liaison to FNIH. As such, a record is kept of all MOUs between NIH ICs and FNIH. Please submit a copy of each MOU to OSP.

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This page last updated: October 6, 2010