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Serving Society

NIH-supported research leads to improvements in health that can bolster the economy, improve productivity, and reduce the costly burden of illness in the U.S. and worldwide. NIH funding also spurs economic growth, both by supporting jobs in research and by generating biomedical innovations that lead to growth in the biotechnology sector.

Explore the sections below to discover more about how NIH serves society.

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Direct Economic Contributions

Learn how NIH directly supports the economy through investments in research institutions and job formation

Members of a team work together in a lab to prepare drug combinations for automated screens to discover new therapies.

Spurring Economic Growth

Learn how NIH investment drives growth of the whole biomedical research enterprise

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Societal Benefits of Improved Health

Learn how NIH-supported research contributes to health benefits, which in turn result in societal and economic benefits

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Societal Benefits from Research

Learn how NIH-supported research findings result in changes that benefit society and the economy