Current

Domestic Annual Reports for the reporting period of October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2026, are due to the NIH Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare (OLAW) by December 1, 2026, for domestic institutions with an approved Domestic Animal Welfare Assurance.

Transparency is the cornerstone of public trust and is essential to advancing rigorous, gold-standard science. Since I began leading NIH, I have been committed to strengthening public trust through greater transparency across all NIH-supported research, with the goal of improving health for all Americans. One important pillar to support this vision is that contributors to scientific publications must be recognized for their work. 

The NIH Comparative Genomics Resource (CGR) provides a centralized repository of tools and resources that aims to maximize the potential of eukaryotic research organisms and their genomic data for biomedical discovery. By bringing high-quality data and common tools together, CGR addresses some key challenges in genomics science, including inconsistencies in data quality and data siloed in separate systems. 

NIH is committed to supporting rigorous and ethically conducted animal research that minimizes the number of animals needed to achieve scientifically valid results. Through a Request for Information, NIH seeks feedback on the feasibility, current capabilities, expected benefits, and expected burdens associated with annual reporting on the number of live, vertebrate animals subject to and defined by the Public Health Service Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. 

NIH has a long-standing commitment of supporting early career scientists to promote growth and stability of the future biomedical workforce. The NIH Director has underscored this commitment by prioritizing training for future scientists. In addition, the NIH Unified Funding Strategy recognizes the critical importance of supporting scientists in the early stages of their careers.

NIH’s Grants Policy Statement, a term and condition of award, reminds recipients that NIH award funds may not be used for lobbying or advocacy activities. 

Finding the right funding opportunity as an early career investigator can feel overwhelming but understanding the NIH funding landscape can help inform your choice. 

You, our extramural research community, are central to the NIAID mission of understanding, treating, and preventing infectious, immunologic, and allergic diseases. In this feature article, all of us at NIAID aim to support you by highlighting some of the latest developments that will impact your work, sharing resources and new opportunities, and answering common questions from the community.

As part of NIH's broader effort to simplify the funding landscape, we’re pleased to highlight three new parent funding opportunities under the NIH Research Education Program (R25). Similar to updates to career development, loan repayment, and predoctoral/postdoctoral transition programs, these new research education programs provide a simpler framework for supporting research education activities while helping NIH develop the scientific workforce of the future.

As previously shared in November 2025 and April 2026, NIH implemented emergency modifications to peer review processes following the resumption of activities after the lapse in appropriations (NOT-OD-26-012, NOT-OD-26-069). These modifications remain in effect through the January 2027 Advisory Council round (NOT-OD-26-114).

Earlier this year, we asked the research community to weigh in on a proposed Clinical Trial Specific Application Form that would consolidate clinical trial information currently provided across two application components into a single, semi-structured form with page limits (NOT-OD-26-058). On behalf of the NIH Clinical Trials Application Working Group, I am pleased to share what we heard, and how your feedback will help shape our next steps.

On August 19, 2026, NIH released for public comment a Draft Biosafety Policy for Research Involving Biohazards for public comment. When finalized, the policy will replace the current NIH Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant or Synthetic Nucleic Acid Molecules.