December 2023

ABOUT NHLBI

• NHLBI is the nation’s leader in supporting research on the prevention and

treatment of heart, lung, blood, and sleep (HLBS) disorders.

• We were established in 1948 to address rising rates of cardiovascular

disease (CVD), the nation’s leading cause of death.

• Our mission has expanded to lead NIH research efforts in lung diseases,

including asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

• We lead research on blood transfusion and blood diseases, such as

sickle cell disease.

• In 1993, we became the home for the National Center on Sleep Disorders

Research (NCSDR), which coordinates NIH programs related to sleep biology.

• NHLBI’s research advances scientific knowledge, improves public health,

and saves lives.

FUNDING HISTORY

0

1000

2000

3000

4000 $3,625 $3,654

FY19 FY20 FY21 FY22 FY23 FY24CR

Fiscal Year

Dollars in Millions

$3,810 $3,985 $3,982

$3,482

In FY20, NHLBI received $103 million in supplemental appropriations through 

the CARES Act (not shown). The FY25 President’s budget request is $3,997 million.

Major NHLBI Initiatives

NHLBI continues to be dedicated to 

understanding and addressing the longterm effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Along with the National Institute of 

Neurological Disorders and Stroke 

and the National Institute of Allergy 

and Infectious Diseases, we lead 

NIH’s Researching COVID to Enhance 

Recovery (RECOVER) Initiative. In 

2023, the RECOVER Initiative launched 

and opened enrollment for Phase 2 

clinical trials to evaluate at least four 

potential treatments for Long COVID, 

with clinical trials to test at least seven 

more treatments expected in the 

coming months.

We support research toward preventing 

or managing cardiovascular risk 

factors and CVD across a woman’s 

lifespan, especially during pregnancy. 

NHLBI is focused on moving 

evidence-based interventions 

proven to support maternal health 

into broader practice. Our Maternal 

Health Community Implementation 

Project (MH-CIP) is a communitydriven initiative that studies how 

specific interventions, such as regular 

blood pressure readings, improve 

women’s heart health and reduce 

maternal mortality.

NHLBI leverages innovative 

technology and data collection 

techniques to understand, diagnose, 

treat, and prevent complex health 

issues. We explore the underlying 

biomolecular mechanisms of 

HLBS conditions and the complex 

interactions among individual biology, 

genetic inheritance, environment, 

and lifestyle. By leveraging cuttingedge technologies to understand 

the intersection of these influences, 

NHLBI continues to advance the 

transformative power of precision 

medicine — providing the right 

treatment or prevention approach to 

the right individual at the right time.

Moving into the future, we plan to 

expand both our community-engaged 

research into rural communities and 

our use of data science approaches 

for precision health.

Director Profile: Gary H. Gibbons, M.D., 

is director of the National Heart, Lung, 

and Blood Institute (NHLBI). He received 

his M.D. from Harvard University Medical 

School and has served on the faculty 

at Harvard, Stanford University, and 

Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta.

Facts and Figures

Full-Time Staff 943

RPG Awards 1,031

Principal Investigators 1,393

ESI Success Rates 31.4%

K Award Success Rates 49.1%
Accomplishments in...

Heart Health 

Among a large cohort of predominantly low-income 

Black and White participants, heart failure incidence 

was 21% higher among adults living in rural areas.

Compared with usual care, adopting home blood pressure 

monitoring was estimated to reduce myocardial infarction 

cases and stroke cases. Home monitoring averted more 

cardiovascular events in women, non-Hispanic Black 

people, and rural residents.

A new approach was developed to reduce the 

circumference of the heart’s left ventricle to overcome 

previous surgical limitations and increase survival rates 

in surgery to address dilated cardiomyopathy.

Lung Health

Through the Air You Wear Challenge, NHLBI aimed to 

broadly stimulate the research and development of 

processes and technologies designed to improve the 

accessibility, efficacy, and usability of supplemental 

oxygen.

Researchers documented the first genome-wide 

characterization of patterns of gene expression changes 

in peripubertal males and females.

Sleep Health

NHLBI-funded researchers have developed a more 

accurate tool for diagnosing obstructive sleep apnea, 

which effectively assessed the severity of the condition, 

and predicted mortality associated with cardiovascular 

diseases.

A recent study conducted by NHLBI-supported researchers 

examined the link between the body’s circadian rhythms 

and the development of lung diseases.

Blood Health 

Researchers designed a new compound that prevented 

blood clots in mice, did not increase bleeding, and 

was well tolerated even in high doses. This finding 

may lead to significant changes in how doctors care 

for patients at risk for thrombosis, without raising the 

risk of bleeding.

NHLBI’s Recipient Epidemiology and Donor Evaluation 

Study (REDS) program aims to evaluate and improve the 

safety and availability of the blood supply, as well as the 

safety and effectiveness of transfusion therapies across 

the lifespan, with a new focus on understudied populations, 

including newborns, children, and pregnant women.

NHLBI’s Community Engagement Efforts

• The NIH Community Engagement Alliance (CEAL), developed during the

COVID-19 pandemic, reaches out to communities across the country as a

comprehensive research platform to address health disparities. We work

specifically with rural, tribal, and other under-resourced communities with

high rates of HLBS conditions to study the reasons for these disparities and

develop health interventions specifically for those communities or regions.

• The nuMoM2b Heart Health Study, funded by NHLBI with co-funding from

the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human

Development, is studying the effects of pregnancy complications on future

cardiovascular health, including social factors that correlate with the future

heart health of new parents, especially in communities of color.

• We are a primary funder of NIH’s Climate Change and Health Initiative, an

urgent, cross-cutting NIH effort to reduce health threats from climate change

across the lifespan and build health resilience in individuals, communities,

and nations around the world, especially among those at highest risk.