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Important Events in NIAID History
1948 — The National Microbiological Institute was established November 1. The Rocky Mountain Laboratory and the Biologics Control Laboratory, both dating to 1902, were incorporated into the new institute, together with the Division of Infectious Diseases and the Division of Tropical Diseases of NIH.
1951 — An institute-supported grants program was initiated, and a branch was established to administer research, training, and fellowship grants. Grant applications were reviewed by the National Advisory Health Council until 1956.
1953 — The Clinical Research Branch was renamed the Laboratory of Clinical Investigation.
1955 — The National Microbiological Institute became the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases on December 29. The Biologics Control Laboratory was detached from the institute and expanded to division status within NIH.
1956 — The first meeting of the National Advisory Allergy and Infectious Diseases Council was held March 7-8.
1957 — The Laboratory of Immunology was established in January to meet the growing need for research on the mechanisms of allergy and immunology.
The Middle America Research Unit was established in the Canal Zone jointly by NIAID and the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research as a temporary field station, made permanent in 1961. Important tropical diseases studies were done there for 15 years. NIAID transferred its part of the program to the Gorgas Memorial Institute in 1972.
1959 — The Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases was established, formerly a part of the Division of Tropical Diseases.
1962 — A collaborative research program funded mainly by contracts was established within the institute to plan, coordinate, and direct nationwide projects on infectious diseases, vaccine development, transplantation immunology, research reagents, and antiviral substances.
1967 — The Laboratory of Viral Diseases was established.
1968 — With the dissolution of NIH's Office of International Research (OIR) and creation of the Fogarty International Center on July 1, 1968, programs formerly managed by OIR were transferred to NIAID to be administered by the Geographic Medicine Branch. These included the U.S.-Japan Cooperative Medical Science Program — initiated in 1965 by the President and the Japanese Prime Minister to explore the health problems of Asia — and the International Centers for Medical Research and Training, a 1960 congressional initiative to advance the status of U.S. health sciences through international research.
1971 — The first 7 Allergic Disease Centers were established to translate basic concepts of the biomedical sciences into clinical investigations.
1974 — The first centers for the study of sexually transmitted diseases and of influenza were established.
1977 — The NIAID Extramural Research Program was reorganized into 3 areas: Microbiology and Infectious Diseases; Immunology, Allergic and Immunologic Diseases; and Extramural Activities. An intramural Laboratory of Immunogenetics was formed.
1978 — The first maximum containment facility (P4) for recombinant DNA research was opened in Frederick, Md. International program project grants and international exploratory/development research grants programs were established. Centers were created for interdisciplinary research on immunologic diseases.
1979 — The Office of Recombinant DNA Activities was transferred from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences to NIAID. The International Collaboration in Infectious Diseases Research Program superseded the International Centers for Medical Research and Training established in 1960.
The Rocky Mountain Laboratory was reorganized into the Laboratory of Persistent Viral Diseases, to deal with both host and viral mechanisms leading to slow or persistent viral infections; the Laboratory of Microbial Structure and Function, directed at bacterial diseases, particularly sexually transmitted diseases; and an Epidemiology Branch.
1980 — The Laboratory of Immunoregulation was established to provide a means for applying new knowledge in immunology to the clinical diagnosis and treatment of patients with immunological disorders.
1981 — The Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology was created to exploit new techniques in recombinant DNA methodology and other molecular studies to expand the institute's interests in both bacterial and viral pathogenesis and virulence.
1984 — The Office of Tropical Medicine and International Research (OTMIR) was established to coordinate NIAID's intramural and extramural research activities in tropical medicine and other international research. OTMIR works with other Federal agencies and international organizations active in these areas.
1985 — The Laboratory of Immunopathology was established. At Rocky Mountain Laboratories, the Epidemiology Branch was renamed the Laboratory of Pathology.
1986 — An Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) Program was established in January to coordinate the institute's extramural research efforts in HIV/AIDS.
1987 — The Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Immunology was established.
1988 — The Immunology, Allergic and Immunologic Diseases Program was reorganized and renamed the Allergy, Immunology, and Transplantation Program.
The Office of Recombinant DNA Activities transferred from NIAID to the NIH Office of the Director.
1989 — NIAID's programs became divisions: Intramural Research; Microbiology and Infectious Diseases; Allergy, Immunology, and Transplantation; Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome; and Extramural Activities.
1990 — At Rocky Mountain Laboratories, a section of the Laboratory of Microbial Structure and Function became the Laboratory of Intracellular Parasites. The name of the Laboratory of Pathobiology was changed to the Laboratory of Vectors and Pathogens.
1991 — The Laboratory of Host Defenses was established.
1994 — The Laboratory of Allergic Diseases was established.
The Office of Research on Minority and Women's Health was created.
At Rocky Mountain Laboratories, the Laboratory of Vectors and Pathogens was renamed the Microscopy Branch.
1999 — The Dale and Betty Bumpers Vaccine Research Center was launched — a research program jointly funded by NIAID, NCI, and the NIH Office of AIDS Research.
2000 — The Children's Health Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-310) codified the NIH Autoimmune Diseases Coordinating Committee in law. ADCC is chaired by NIAID.
2001 — Malaria Vaccine Development Unit was dedicated.
2002 — Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases was reorganized; Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research was established.
The Office of Biodefense Research Affairs was established within the Division of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases (DMID) to coordinate the planning, implementation, and evaluation of DMID-wide biodefense research.
NIAID awarded its first Partnership grants to support collaboration between private industry, academia, and government to accomplish critical infectious disease and biodefense research goals.
2003 — NIAID established an intellectual and physical infrastructure for biodefense research through awards to support National and Regional Biocontainment Laboratories (NBLs and RBLs) and Regional Centers of Excellence (RCEs) for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases.
2004 — The Laboratory of Molecular Immunology was established.
2005 — The Laboratory of Zoonotic Pathogens was established.
The Laboratory of Bacterial Diseases was established.
NIAID made its first awards using authorities granted under Project Bioshield legislation to support development of new therapeutics and vaccines against some of the most deadly agents of bioterrorism including anthrax, botulinum toxin, Ebola virus, pneumonic plague, smallpox, and tularemia.
2006 — The Division of Clinical Research was established.
The Laboratory of Virology was established.
The C.W. Bill Young Center for Biodefense and Emerging Infectious Diseases (Building 33) was launched to carry out NIAID's mission in emerging infectious disease research, including the development of medical countermeasures for biodefense.
2008 — The Integrated Research Facility (IRF) at Rocky Mountain Laboratories, a state-of-the-art research facility for the study of infectious microbes in high and maximum containment environments, opened. The building employs the highest possible safety standards to protect scientists and the surrounding community.
2009 — Malaria Vaccine Development Branch expanded to become the Laboratory of Malaria Immunology and Vaccinology.
2014 — The IRF at Fort Detrick in Maryland was completed. With a research emphasis placed on high consequence infections requiring high levels of biocontainment, this facility carries out biodefense research needed to understand the clinical disease processes which correlate with the severity of microbial-induced disease.
2015 — Laboratory of Human Bacteriology and Pathogenesis was changed to the Laboratory of Bacteriology.
2018 — Laboratory of Immunology and Laboratory of Systems Biology merged to become Laboratory of Immune System Biology.
Laboratory of Host Defenses and Laboratory of Clinical Infectious Diseases merged to become Laboratory of Clinical Immunology and Mirobiology.
2020 — Laboratory of Host Immunity and Microbiome was established.
2023 — Laboratory of Persistent Viral Diseases was changed to the Laboratory of Neurological Infections and Immunity.
NIAID Legislative Chronology
November 1, 1948 — The National Microbiological Institute was established under authority of section 202 of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act, as implemented by General Circular No. 55, Organization Order No. 20, dated October 8, 1948.
December 29, 1955 — NIAID was established (replacing the National Microbiological Institute) under authority of the Omnibus Medical Research Act (P.L. 81-692, 64 Stat. L. 443) as implemented by PHS Briefing Memorandum of November 4, 1955, from the Surgeon General to the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare.
November 4, 1988 — NIAID was provided with additional authorities under title II of the Health Omnibus Programs Extension Act of 1988 (P.L. 100-607), the first major law to address AIDS research, information, education, and prevention.
August 14, 1991 — The PHS act (P.L. 102-96), the "Terry Beirn Community Based AIDS Research Initiative Act of 1991" reauthorized NIAID's Community Programs for Clinical Research on AIDS (CPCRA) for another 5 years.
June 10, 1993 — The PHS act was amended by P.L. 103-43, the National Institutes of Health Revitalization Act of 1993. This comprehensive legislation required NIAID to include research on tropical diseases in its mission statement and directed the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to ensure that individuals with expertise in chronic fatigue syndrome or neuromuscular diseases are appointed to appropriate NIH advisory committees.
December 14, 1993 — The Preventive Health Amendments of 1993 were passed, which included provisions requiring the Director of NIAID to conduct or support research and research training regarding the cause, early detection, prevention, and treatment of tuberculosis. (The institute already had authority to conduct such research under its authorities in Title IV, PHS act.)
October 7, 1998 — Rep. Anne Northup (Ky.), on behalf of herself and Rep. Bill Young (Fla.), introduced H.C.R. 335, a resolution recognizing NIAID's 50th anniversary. On October 9, Sen. Richard Durbin (Ill.), on behalf of himself and Sen. Connie Mack (Fla.), introduced a companion measure, S.C.R. 127. Both pieces of legislation were submitted to "demonstrate the support of the U.S. Congress for the NIAID, the NIH and all of the dedicated professionals who have devoted their lives to improving the quality of the Nation's health."
October 17, 2000 — The Children's Health Act (P.L. 106-310) required the Directors of NIAID and the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases to expand and intensify the activities of their Institutes with respect to research and related activities concerning juvenile arthritis and related conditions.
November 13, 2000 — The Public Health Improvement Act (P.L. 106-505) authorized the NIAID Director to establish a program of clinical research and training awards for sexually transmitted diseases.
July 21, 2004 — The Project BioShield Act (P.L. 108-276) authorized the NIAID Director to provide grants for the modernization and construction of biomedical and behavioral research facilities and increased the Federal share of such NIAID-funded projects. The law also authorized the HHS Secretary to employ other procedures to respond to pressing needs in the research and development of countermeasures against biological, chemical, radiological, and nuclear threats, including expediting peer review procedures in certain instances, contracting with experts or consultants, and appointing professional and technical employees to positions at NIH.
July 30, 2008 — The Tom Lantos and Henry J. Hyde United States Global Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Reauthorization Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-293) authorized the NIAID Director, acting through the head of the Division of AIDS and in accordance with the NIH peer-review process, to carry out research on, and development of, safe and effective methods for use by women to prevent the transmission of HIV, which may include microbicides.
November 21, 2013 — The HIV Organ Policy Equity Act (HOPE Act) (P.L. 113-51) was enacted and called for the development and publication of research criteria and guidelines to allow for the recovery and transplantation of organs from HIV-positive donors into HIV-positive recipients. NIAID helped develop consensus criteria, including transplant hospital prerequisites and standards of organ quality, with input from other federal and non-federal constituencies, and has supported research on such transplants. The Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network, the public-private partnership that manages all U.S. organ procurement organizations, formally implemented the policy and system changes needed to comply with the HOPE Act two years later.
December 29, 2022 — The Public Health Service Act was amended (P.L. 117-328) and authorized the NIAID Director, in collaboration with other divisions of the NIH, the Administration for Preparedness and Response, and the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, to develop and support a multidisciplinary research program to advance the discovery and preclinical development of medical products for pathogens of pandemic concern. This provision is consistent with the establishment of the Antiviral Drug Discovery (AViDD) Centers for Pathogens of Pandemic Concern.