Office of Disease Prevention (ODP)

The mission of the Office of Disease Prevention (ODP) is to improve public health by increasing the scope, quality, dissemination, and impact of prevention research supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Prevention is preferable to treatment and prevention research is an important part of NIH's mission. The knowledge gained leads to stronger clinical practice, health policy, and community health programs. 

ODP’s work focuses on primary and secondary prevention research in humans, including research that seeks to:

• Identify risk and protective factors
• Screen and identify people who are at risk for or have signs of an early-stage condition
• Develop and evaluate interventions to promote health, enhance protective factors, reduce risk factors, or address environmental and contextual drivers
• Evaluate the impact of policies and regulations designed to promote health and safety 
• Test implementation and dissemination strategies for evidence-based preventive interventions and practices
• Develop and evaluate rigorous research methods and measures for prevention research studies
• Evaluate the economics of prevention

ODP prioritizes projects that test interventions to address the leading risk factors associated with mortality, chronic conditions and other morbidities in the United States: 

• tobacco use
• overweight/obesity
• poor diet 
• physical inactivity
• alcohol misuse
• environmental exposures
• infectious disease
• injury and violence (includes self-harm)
• risky sexual behavior
• substance abuse 

ODP also puts a high priority on prevention projects that aim to reduce health disparities, address social determinants of health, promote implementation research, and advance workforce development and research capacity building. 

ODP coordinates and co-funds collaborative NIH research and activities to advance research to address gaps identified by the Community Preventive Services Task Force, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, Healthy People 2030, and NIH Pathways to Prevention (P2P) workshops.

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