Reinforcing NIH’s Continued Commitment to Fundamental Research

By NIH Staff

Because it is often difficult to predict how today’s discoveries will translate into tomorrow’s advances, NIH’s policies and funding approaches are designed to maintain strong support for investigator-initiated fundamental research. NIH’s Gold Standard Science plan explains that our priority-setting processes provide strong support for hypothesis-driven research while balancing opportunities to support other forms of innovative and high-risk research. Advancing foundational knowledge of human health and disease is also a stated goal for the next NIH-wide strategic plan under development. Here we discuss NIH’s continued commitment in this area. 

A substantial portion of NIH’s investment in biomedicine supports research that seeks to uncover the fundamental principles and mechanisms underlying human health and disease. It also informs applied, clinical, and translational studies. These discoveries enable future advances, from prevention strategies to new diagnostics and lifesaving treatments that improve the health of all Americans. 

Reflecting its critical role, NIH generally invests at least half of its extramural research budget in fundamental research. When looking specifically at grants that support either fundamental/basic research or applied research using the Research, Condition, and Disease Categorization (RCDC) system, basic research is generally around half of the grant-supported projects over the past five fiscal years (Table 1). The higher dollar figures for applied research reported here likely reflect the higher cost to conduct these types of studies. The methodology used here is consistent with a prior archived analysis, with slight differences in results due to updated quality control.

Table 1. Basic and Applied Research: Projects and Inflation-Adjusted Funding Amount – Fiscal Year (FY) 2021-2025

             *  Dollars in thousands 
             ** FY 2025 RCDC data are estimates at this time 

While the trajectory from discovery to application is rarely linear, fundamental research has repeatedly laid the groundwork for transformative advances. These studies have led to advances in gene-editing therapies for sickle cell disease, Leber Congenital Amaurosis, sequencing the human genome, developing cancer immunotherapies, antibodies to prevent food allergies, addressing hearing loss, and organ-on-chip technologies to accelerate drug development. More is available on NIH’s commercial success stories and NIH Impact pages.

Additional evidence of impact includes:

• Approximately 87% of 356 new drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 2010-2019 could be linked to NIH-supported studies. NIH funding for these studies totaled $187 billion, 83% of which was for basic research.
• 10.9% of those 356 drugs had at least one patent citing NIH-funded research.
• Supported phased clinical trials for 62% of the new drugs approved by the FDA over that period.
• Basic research supported by the NIH has led to nearly 100 scientists winning Nobel prizes.

Beyond individual discoveries, NIH funding for fundamental research:

• Sustains the biomedical workforce supported through NIH awards
• Enables collaboration across institutions and disciplines through funded projects
• Supports early stage and pre-clinical research, including through small business programs
• Catalyzes downstream private-sector investment.

Communicating How NIH Prioritizes Fundamental Research 

Through our Highlighted Topics resource, NIH signals priority areas while continuing to support investigator-initiated applications in response to parent funding opportunities that advance foundational knowledge. Selected examples include:

• Computational Approaches in Fundamental Neuroscience
• Quantum Information Science & Technologies for Biomedical Applications
• Fundamental Science Research on the Neural Circuits Underlying Sensory Processing
• Advancing Microbiome Science Through Multidisciplinary Mechanistic Investigations of the Human Microbiome in Health and Disease

Learn more about what to do with Highlighted Topics in this April 2026 Nexus article.

By continuing to prioritize investigator-initiated fundamental research through its extramural funding approach, NIH supports the foundational discoveries that drive progress across the biomedical research enterprise. This NIH-wide commitment is reflected across NIH Institutes and Centers (ICs), each of which supports fundamental research in ways that align with its specific mission and scientific priorities. 

The following perspectives from ICs (in alphabetical order) illustrate how this commitment is upheld across the agency. Click on the IC's name to read more about their continued commitment.