The National Institutes of Health (NIH), a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the nation’s medical research agency — making important discoveries that improve health and save lives.
The NIH Director's New Innovator Award Program is designed to support early stage investigators of exceptional creativity proposing bold and highly innovative research projects with the potential to make a major impact on broad and important areas relevant to the NIH's mission. The program aims to support the best possible researchers and research reflecting the full diversity of the research workforce. It encourages applications from individuals from diverse backgrounds, including those from underrepresented groups and from the full spectrum of eligible institutions in all geographic locations. The grant welcomes applications in all topics relevant to the broad mission of NIH, including behavioral, social, biomedical, applied, and formal sciences. It also includes topics that may involve basic, translational, or clinical research. This program is part of the High-Risk, High-Reward Research (HRHR) Program of the NIH Common Fund, complementing other NIH efforts to fund early-stage investigators.