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NIMHD supports research to identify the factors that contribute to differences in disease risk, diagnosis, treatment, and outcomes and to development evidence-based approaches to address them. NIMHD plays a critical role in advancing research on chronic diseases and conditions, including diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and mental health disorders, to improve health for all.
Research Programs
Extramural
NIMHD supports research and training extramurally through grants, contracts, and cooperative agreements focused on clinical and health services research, integrative biological and behavioral science, and community health and population sciences.
Intramural
The NIMHD Division of Intramural Research (DIR) works collaboratively within NIH and externally with multidisciplinary research teams to understand and reduce the complex mechanisms contributing to health disparities while also training a productive scientific workforce.
NHPI Health Research Office
The NIMHD Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) Health Research Office supports the development of partnerships and solutions-oriented research to improve health outcomes and reduce health disparities among NHPI populations.
Research Collaborations
Add Health Study
The National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health), led by the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development, is a major long-term research project tracking a nationally representative U.S. cohort from adolescence into adulthood. Its core focus is on linking environments, behaviors, and genetics in adolescence to health, aging, and well-being in adulthood. Over 20,000 adolescents are being followed across six completed waves of data collection, with Wave VII initiated in fall 2026 to evaluate aging and cognitive health. The data include rich psychosocial, environmental, genetic, and biomedical markers tracking chronic disease development over the life course, and has produced important peer-reviewed publications.
Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study
The ABCD Study® will enroll 10,000+ healthy children and follow them from ages 9 to 10 into early adulthood to understand how children’s experiences affect brain development. This project will increase our understanding of environmental, social, genetic, and biological factors that affect brain and cognitive development and that can enhance or disrupt a young person’s life trajectory. The next phase of the study will seek to determine how exposure to substances (e.g., alcohol, marijuana, nicotine, caffeine) and new ways of taking them (e.g., vaping, dabbing) affect developmental outcomes and vice versa.
NIH Program on Health and Extreme Weather (HEW)
The HEW program aims to better understand the direct and indirect impacts of extreme weather on the health of communities across America. This coordinated effort will address knowledge gaps and provide information that can be used for prevention, preparedness, and solutions to save lives and improve quality of life for those affected by extreme weather conditions and emerging environmental harms.