For more than 50 years, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Intramural Research Program (IRP) and Clinical Center in Bethesda, MD, together have been a leading force in rheumatology training and research. NIH laboratories and clinical investigators have made pioneering discoveries about the genetic causes and pathogenesis of rheumatic diseases, which have laid the foundation for new therapies. The NIH fellowship training program in rheumatology has trained several generations of fellows, and many of our alumni are now internationally recognized basic or translational research rheumatologists. Hosted in the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) since the Institute's founding in 1986, rheumatology training and research has grown to encompass laboratories and clinical programs in other institutes as well.