Division of Genetics and Developmental Biology

- cell growth and differentiation
- chromosome organization and mechanics
- complex biological systems
- control of gene expression
- control of the cell cycle
- developmental genetics and cell biology
- extrachromosomal inheritance
- mechanisms of mutagenesis
- neurogenetics and the genetics of behavior
- population genetics, evolution, and the genetics of complex traits
- replication, recombination, and repair of genes

Division of Pharmacology, Physiology, and Biological Chemistry

- anesthesiology
- biochemistry
- bioenergetics
- bio-organic and bio-inorganic chemistry
- biotechnology
- glycoconjugates and glycobiology
- medicinal chemistry
- molecular immunobiology
- pharmacogenetics
- pharmacology and clinical pharmacology
- physiology
- synthetic chemistry
- trauma and burn injury
- wound healing

The Institute also has a Division of Minority Opportunities in Research that contains two branches and several special initiatives designed to increase the number of minority biomedical scientists. The Minority Access to Research Careers Branch supports research training at the undergraduate, graduate, and faculty levels. The Minority Biomedical Research Support Branch funds research projects at educational institutions with substantial minority enrollments. These grants help strengthen the institutions' biomedical research capabilities and afford opportunities for students to work as part of a research team.

In addition to these divisions, the Institute has a Center for Bioinformatics and Computational Biology that supports research and research training in areas that join biology with the computer sciences, engineering, mathematics, and physics. The center also oversees NIH's Biomedical Information Science and Technology Initiative (BISTI) through its management of the BISTI Consortium. The goal of this initiative is to make optimal use of computer science and technology to address problems in biology and medicine.

NIGMS was established in 1962. In fiscal year 2002, the Institute's budget is $1.73 billion. The vast majority of this money goes to fund grants to scientists at universities, medical schools, hospitals, and research institutions throughout the country. At any given time, NIGMS supports over 4,000 research grants--about 12 percent of the grants funded by NIH as a whole. NIGMS also supports approximately 27 percent of all the predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees who receive assistance from NIH.

The Institute places great emphasis on the support of individual, investigator-initiated research grants. It funds a limited number of research center grants in selected fields, including structural genomics, trauma and burn research, and the pharmacological sciences. In addition, NIGMS funds several important resources for basic scientists.

In recent years, NIGMS has launched initiatives in such cutting-edge areas as structural genomics (the Protein Structure Initiative), pharmacogenetics, integrative and collaborative approaches to research (also known as "glue grants"), and the study of complex biological problems.

NIGMS research training programs recognize the interdisciplinary nature of biomedical research today, and stress approaches to biological problems that cut across disciplinary and departmental lines. Such experience prepares trainees to pursue creative research careers in a wide variety of areas.

Certain NIGMS training programs address areas in which there is a particularly serious need for well-prepared scientists. One of these, the Medical Scientist Training Program, provides investigators who can bridge the gap between basic and clinical research by supporting research training leading to the combined M.D.-Ph.D. degree. Other programs train scientists to conduct research in the rapidly growing field of biotechnology and at the interface between the fields of chemistry and biology.

NIGMS also has a Pharmacology Research Associate Program, in which postdoctoral scientists receive training in pharmacology in NIH laboratories and clinics.

Among the research advances made with NIGMS support are studies that have:

Contributed to a better understanding of the cell, which is the fundamental unit of life, and of many of the genes that control cellular processes. Among the areas in which knowledge has increased rapidly are details of cell structure, the cell cycle of growth and division, protein transport across cell membranes, and communication within and between cells.

Improved understanding of the relationship between the structure and function of biological molecules, such as proteins and the genetic material DNA and RNA. Continued advances in this field, known as structural biology, have enabled researchers to determine the detailed three-dimensional structure of increasingly large cellular components, such as ribosomes--the cellular factories that manufacture all of the proteins required for life. Many antibiotic drugs target ribosomes in bacteria, so this work may help scientists develop new antibiotics or improve existing ones.

Successfully applied knowledge in chemistry to yield new ways to produce a wide variety of medicines. Advances in chemistry have also spawned useful tools to probe biological goings-on inside and between cells.

Played an important role in driving burn injury survival statistics upward. Among the advances that have contributed directly to this public health benefit are discoveries related to proper wound care, adequate nutrition, and infection control. Basic research has also led to the development of widely used, commercially available skin-replacement products for the treatment of injury caused by severe burns.

Find out more about NIGMS by clicking HERE

Return to the Public Health budget by clicking HERE