NIAID comprises intramural and extramural research divisions.

Intramural Research:

Division of Intramural Research (DIR)
- located in laboratories on the main NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland, the Twinbrook facilities in Rockville, Maryland, and at the Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, Montana
- Conducts research in virology, biochemistry, parasitology, epidemiology, mycology, molecular biology, immunology, immunopathology, and immunogenetics
- Supports clinical, patient-centered research in allergy, immunology, and infectious diseases at the NIH Clinical Center

NIAID Dale and Betty Bumpers Vaccine Research Center (VRC)
- located in Building 40 on the main NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland
- conducts research that facilitates the development of effective vaccines for HIV/AIDS and other human diseases.

Extramural Divisions:

The extramural divisions support investigators in academic and industry laboratories throughout the United States and globally through international networks in Africa, Asia, Europe, North and South America, and the Caribbean. They include:
- Division of AIDS (DAIDS)
- Division of Allergy, Immunology and Transplantation (DAIT)
- Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (DMID)
- Division of Extramural Activities (DEA).

Major Areas of Investigation

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS)
NIAID supports investigators conducting basic research on the pathogenesis of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS; developing and conducting clinical trials of promising experimental drugs for HIV infection and related opportunistic infections and cancers; carrying out epidemiologic studies to assess the impact of HIV on the populations most severely affected by the epidemic; and developing and testing HIV vaccines.

Asthma and Allergic Diseases

Research on asthma and allergies has revealed much about their underlying mechanisms and contributed to the development of new ways to help affected individuals. NIAID has established a network of asthma, allergic and immunologic diseases research centers to transfer results rapidly from fundamental studies in immunology and clinical studies of allergy to clinical practice. The Institute also supports the National Cooperative Inner-City Asthma Study to define factors that influence the disease's severity and to design and evaluate programs to reduce asthma episodes and deaths among African-American and Hispanic children.

Biodefense

NIAID's focus on emerging infectious disease research includes research on pathogens that can be used as agents of bioterrorism. Biodefense research entails understanding the pathogenesis of such microbes, the humans immune response to them, and translating this knowledge into useful treatments, diagnostics, and vaccines. NIAID is committed to basic and translational research for biodefense, working with partners in academia, industry, and other private and public-sector agencies.

Emerging Diseases

New diseases are arising worldwide and old diseases are re-emerging as infectious agents evolve or spread, and as changes occur in ecology, socioeconomic conditions, and population patterns. NIAID conducts and supports research on Lyme disease, multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, and other emerging diseases to develop new or improved diagnostics, treatments, and vaccines.

Enteric Diseases

Worldwide, diarrheal diseases such as cholera and rotavirus infection are major causes of illness and death in infants and children. In contrast, viral hepatitis in its various forms can cause severe disease in older children and adults, although it produces few symptoms among younger age groups. NIAID supports basic research on how enteric agents cause illness as well as studies aimed at developing and testing vaccines to prevent enteric infections.

Genetics and Transplantation

NIAID supports studies aimed at improving immunosuppressive therapies, further developing reagents needed for precise tissue matching, defining the genetic regulation of the immune response, and understanding the molecular mechanisms that control immune system genes. NIAID is participating in the first NIH cooperative clinical trial in kidney transplantation, designed to translate developments in basic research into new therapies to prevent graft rejection.

Immunologic Diseases

A malfunction of the immune system can unleash an enormous variety of diseases from allergy to arthritis to cancer. Through the Immune Tolerance Network and other research collaborations, NIAID spearheads both basic research on the immune system and clinical studies exploring how to promote immune tolerance to treat people with autoimmune disorders such as type 1 (juvenile) diabetes and lupus.

Malaria and Other Tropical Diseases

Diseases such as malaria, filariasis, trypanosomiasis, and leprosy disable and kill millions of people worldwide. NIAID's research efforts in tropical medicine are conducted by U.S. and foreign investigators receiving Institute support and by NIAID scientists in Bethesda. NIAID supports tropical medicine research in Brazil, China, Mali, Thailand and many other countries where such diseases are endemic.

Sexually Transmitted Diseases

More than 13 million Americans each year acquire infectious diseases other than AIDS through sexual contact. Such STDs as gonorrhea, syphilis, chlamydia, genital herpes, and human papillomavirus can have devastating consequences, particularly for young adults, pregnant women, and newborn babies. NIAID-supported scientists in STD Cooperative Research Centers, NIAID laboratories, and other research institutions are developing better diagnostic tests, improved treatments, and effective vaccines.

Vaccine Development

Effective vaccines have contributed enormously to improvements in public health in the United States during the last century. Research conducted and supported by NIAID has led to new or improved vaccines for a variety of serious diseases, including rabies, meningitis, whooping cough, hepatitis A and B, chickenpox, and pneumococcal pneumonia, to name a few. NIAID supports vaccine evaluation units for the testing of new vaccines in people at a number of U.S. medical centers.

Other areas of research include fungal diseases, hospital-associated infections, respiratory diseases, and antiviral and antimicrobial drug development.

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