Mark Your Calendars: Spring–Summer 2026 NIH National Advisory Council or Board (NACs) Meetings

Here, we are sharing upcoming NIH National Advisory Council or Board (NAC) meetings for your awareness.  

A portion of NAC meeting proceedings are open to the public. Viewers can hear about the Institute or Center Director remarks, updates on their priorities and initiatives, budget overviews, scientific highlights, and concept clearance for future possible funding opportunities. However, deliberations around applications are kept confidential, and held during closed sessions.  

It is important to understand that Advisory Councils do not make funding decisions. Rather, as part of the second level of NIH peer review, they make recommendations to the Institute or Center Director on which applications are suitable for funding consideration, taking into account program relevance, public health priorities, and portfolio balance. In practice, this means that they occasionally may deem an application not suitable for funding consideration, such as determining if additional funds should be provided to already well-supported investigators.  

NIH Institute and Center Directors will consider the input received on reviewed applications from their Advisory Councils, together with input outlined in the NIH Unified Funding Strategy, to help inform their funding decisions. 

Below are upcoming Spring-Summer 2026 Council Meeting Dates. You may watch the public sessions via the NIH videocast. NACs not mentioned here have already occurred earlier in the spring.