The Political Economy of the National Institutes of Health

Award Year: 2006	Investigator: Bhaven Sampat	Budget: $283,247	Categories: Government Agencies, Innovation and R&D
Abstract: The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the single largest sponsor of biomedical research in the world. It also enjoys a high level of bipartisan political support that is perhaps unrivaled in the health policy arena. Bhaven N. Sampat, Ph.D. is interested in how the NIH makes decisions about where to invest its funds and the effects of those decisions on the health of Americans. His project, The Political Economy of the National Institutes of Health, analyzes how the scientific community, disease interest groups, Congress, and the media interact to shape NIH allocation decisions. Sampat's research will provide a picture of NIH's funding patterns that should help broaden understanding of how research investment decisions are made, their results, and how they might be improved. His findings should interest an array of stakeholders in the nation's biomedical research enterprise, including scientists, academic institutions, private industry, policymakers, and the American public.