National Institutes of Health, Intramural Research Program

With 1,200 Principal Investigators and more than 4,000 Postdoctoral Fellows conducting basic, translational, and clinical research, the IRP is the largest biomedical research institution on earth. 

Its unique funding environment means the IRP can facilitate opportunities to conduct both long-term and high-impact science that would otherwise be difficult to undertake.

Within the framework of the overall NIH mandate, the IRP mission is to:

• Conduct distinctive, laboratory, clinical, behavioral, translational and population-based research that breaks new ground and defines scientific excellence
• Facilitate new approaches to improve health through prevention, early detection, diagnosis, and treatment by developing and/or using innovative technologies, approaches or devices
• Respond rapidly to critical public health needs
• Train the next generation of biomedical and behavioral researchers
• Foster sharing of information and dissemination of the IRP’s major discoveries to the public through partnerships with academic institutions and industry