Research Spectrum

The NHLBI’s Division of Intramural Research conducts basic, pre-clinical, and clinical and population science research to better understand normal biology and disease mechanisms of HLBS disorders. To recognize and foster scientific discovery and teamwork among NHLBI researchers, the Institute established the Orloff Science Awards, named in honor of Dr. Jack Orloff, NHLBI scientific director from 1974 to 1988.

The research we fund today will help improve our future health. Our Division of Blood Diseases and Resources, Division of Cardiovascular Sciences, and Division of Lung Diseases support basic, clinical, and translational research to prevent and treat HLBS disorders. The NHLBI’s Center for Translation Research and Implementation Science plans, fosters, and supports late-stage translational research, dissemination, and implementation research in the United States and abroad.

Health metrics sciences is a relatively new field of study. Researchers in this field examine how to best measure human health, diseases, injuries, and risk factors. By combining the power of biostatistics, demography, epidemiology, economics, and other social sciences, health metrics scientists create estimates of human health and disease burden. These estimates can be compared to explore regional differences and trends over time. The NHLBI applies health metrics sciences to advance health equity in the United States by partnering with the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation’s Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study and through participation in the U.S. GBD Health Disparities Collaboration.

NHLBI’s HIGH Branch of the Center for Translation Research and Implementation Science explores strategies to develop treatment methods for HLBS disorders around the world. The HIGH Branch is interested in global health research that: 

• Works across complex settings in low- and middle-income countries and small-island developing states
• Leverages existing global infrastructure to advance the prevention and treatment of HLBS disorders in people living with HIV
• Advances our understanding of the United States’ health disadvantages compared to other high-income countries

Community-engaged research requires working collaboratively with and through those who share similar situations, concerns, or challenges in the communities. The NHLBI, National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, and other National Institutes of Health (NIH) Institutes, Centers, and Offices support a community-engaged research platform (i.e., Community Engagement Alliance [CEAL]) to initiate and sustain critical collaboration and research partnership between patients, community health workers, community partners including community-based organizations, healthcare providers, academic institutions, and local governments to understand and tackle factors that contribute to persisting health inequities in the nation (e.g., social determinants of health). NIH CEAL disseminates and implements effective, community-engaged strategies to communicate trustworthy, science-based information; enhances education, awareness, access, trust, and inclusion of underserved communities in treatment and prevention strategies; promotes inclusive participation in biomedical research; and implements evidence-based interventions in the communities of greatest need. CEAL foci are expanding and includes climate and health, maternal health, primary care settings, and genomics, for instance. 

Through NHLBI’s Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) program, researchers will use data from studies focused on HLBS disorders to better predict, prevent, diagnose, and treat diseases based on a patient’s unique genes, environment, and molecular signatures. Learn more about NHLBI precision medicine activities.

The NHLBI BioData Catalyst is a cloud-based platform that will offer cohort and phenotype searches, as well as secure workspaces that share, store, cross-link, and compute on large datasets. The goal is to enable novel scientific research by enhancing access to data from NHLBI-affiliated studies on a unique platform—one that builds on the cloud-based infrastructure of the NIH Data Commons.

The NHLBI has taken a lead role in managing the Regenerative Medicine Innovation Project (RMIP), which was established by the 21st Century Cures Act. The Act authorized NIH, in coordination with U.S. Food and Drug Administration, to invest $30 million over four years. The first projects funded through the RMIP focus on understanding and treating a wide range of common and rare diseases through regenerative medicine approaches, such as stem cells or gene editing to repair damaged cells, tissues, or organs.

The Cure Sickle Cell Initiative is an NHLBI-led collaborative research effort to develop genetic therapies for patients who have sickle cell disease. The goal is to have these genetic therapies ready to use safely in clinical research within 5 to 10 years. The Initiative is patient-focused, and it will bring together researchers, industry, patients, providers, advocacy groups, and others as it supports research, education, and community engagement activities.

The Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) is a long-term study focusing on strategies to prevent the major causes of death and disability among postmenopausal women. Although the original WHI study completed data collection in 2005, the WHI continues to advance women’s health through extension studies and ancillary studies, such as the Women’s Health Initiative Strong and Healthy Study and the Women’s Health Initiative Sleep Hypoxia Effects on Resilience.

The NHLBI, with input from federal and nonfederal partners, developed a COPD National Action Plan to guide stakeholders nationwide in their efforts to reduce the burden of COPD. The NHLBI’s COPD Learn More Breathe Better program seeks to increase the awareness and understanding of COPD and encourage people at risk to be tested.

The NHLBI’s DECIPHeR (Disparities Elimination through Coordinated Interventions to Prevent and Control Heart Disease Risk) initiative includes studies that explore multilevel strategies for delivering evidence-based interventions to prevent heart disease and asthma. These optimal, sustainable strategies will consider the needs, resources, and sociocultural norms of diverse communities across the United States.

The National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (NAEPP), comprised of medical associations, federal agencies, voluntary health organizations, and community programs, seeks to help educate and provide tools to patients, healthcare professionals, and the public about asthma. The NAEPP Coordinating Committee established an Expert Panel 4 Working Group in 2018 to update the 2007 guidelines.

For more than 25 years, the NHLBI’s National Center on Sleep Disorders Research has supported and coordinated sleep science and disorders research, training, and awareness across NIH, other federal agencies, and outside organizations. The center also participates in the translation of new sleep research findings for dissemination to healthcare professionals and the public.

Through the years, the NHLBI has supported clinical trials that have shaped medical practice and improved the health of people who have HLBS disorders. To maximize the benefits from clinical research, the NHLBI has developed different ways to optimize our clinical trials enterprise and fund the clinical trial phases, including planning and pilot studies.

The Biologic Specimen and Data Repository Information Coordinating Center (BioLINCC) centralizes and integrates biospecimens and clinical data that were once stored in separate repositories. Researchers can find and request available resources on BioLINCC’s secure website, which maximizes the value of these resources and advances HLBS research.

The NHLBI Office of Translational Alliances and Coordination (OTAC) helps accelerate the transition of new and promising extramural discoveries into innovative biomedical products to prevent, diagnose, and treat heart, lung, blood, and sleep disorders. OTAC coordinates the NHLBI Small Business Program (SBIR/STTR activities), provides pre-application advice, offers product development support services during funding periods, and helps expand researchers’ networks to support further technology development.

The Catalyze program provides a comprehensive suite of support and services to facilitate the translation of basic scientific discoveries into viable therapeutics, devices, and diagnostics ready for human testing.