Ellison Lars M, Olsson Carl A
Department of Urology, PenBay Medical Center, Rockport, ME 04856, USA.
Urol Clin North Am. 2009 Feb;36(1):85-93, vii. doi: 10.1016/j.ucl.2008.08.008.
The bulk of federal funding for medical research is delivered through the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Because federal funding is coordinated through the annual discretionary budget review process, the budget for NIH varies from year to year. Small changes in the rate of funding growth lead to significant problems for individual researchers and their supporting institutions. There is no single metric that serves as a surrogate to predict the appropriations process. This article begins with a history and physical examination of NIH. Next, the authors review the internal NIH priorities that continue to drive the funding process. Finally, the authors give a brief review of the impact congressionally mandated medical research programs have had on disease-specific funding.
联邦政府用于医学研究的大部分资金是通过国立卫生研究院（NIH）提供的。由于联邦资金是通过年度自由裁量预算审查程序进行协调的，因此NIH的预算每年都会有所不同。资金增长率的微小变化会给个别研究人员及其支持机构带来重大问题。没有单一的指标可以作为预测拨款过程的替代指标。本文首先对NIH进行了历史回顾和现状审视。接下来，作者回顾了继续推动资金分配过程的NIH内部优先事项。最后，作者简要回顾了国会授权的医学研究项目对特定疾病资金的影响。
