Final FY 2026 Ad Hoc Group NIH Funding Recommendation

The 510 undersigned members of the Ad Hoc Group for Medical Research, which includes organizations representing patients, scientists, health professionals, research and academic institutions, educators, and industry, recommends at least $51.303 billion for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for fiscal year (FY) 2026, in addition to support for the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, which would represent a $4.222 billion or 9.0% increase over the final FY 2025 funding level.

Robust support for medical research makes Americans healthier. Patients across the country — from urban centers to rural communities — benefit from medical research supported by the NIH, which serves as the foundation for nearly every preventive intervention, diagnostic, treatment, and cure in practice today. Each year, more than 300,000 researchers across labs and other settings in nearly every congressional district nationwidei,ii conduct research on the most promising strategies to promote patient well-being and overcome existing and emerging health threats, including cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias, diabetes, Parkinson’s, chronic health conditions, and the full range of other diagnoses that patients, families, and communities face every day. Underfunding NIH will slow the pace of scientific discovery as does imposing other problematic disruptions on the agency, placing the health of patients and communities at increased risk.

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