NCCIH’s Funding Priorities and Research Focus

The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) funds and conducts research to help answer important scientific and public health questions about complementary and integrative health approaches. NCCIH works to determine what is promising, what helps and why, what doesn’t work, and what is safe.

NCCIH’s Funding Priorities

The field of complementary and integrative health encompasses a large and diverse array of practices, products, and disciplines. To best focus its research investment, NCCIH's strategic plan outlines a framework of five major objectives.

Objectives

• Advance Fundamental Science and Methods Development
• Advance Research on the Whole Person and on the Integration of Complementary and Conventional Care
• Foster Research on Health Promotion and Restoration, Resilience, Disease Prevention, and Symptom Management
• Enhance the Complementary and Integrative Health Research Workforce
• Provide Objective, Evidence-Based Information on Complementary and Integrative Health Interventions 

Top Scientific Priorities

• Research on Whole Person Health
• Interoception Research
• Health Restoration, Resilience, Disease Prevention, and Health Promotion Across the Lifespan
• Implementation Science for Complementary and Integrative Health
• Complementary and Integrative Management of Pain
• Complex Interactions Involving Nutritional Interventions
• Enhancing the Complementary and Integrative Health Research Workforce
• Mechanisms and Biomarkers of Mind and Body Approaches
• Supporting Impactful Clinical Trials of Complementary and Integrative Health Approaches
• Communications Strategies and Tools To Enhance Scientific Literacy and Understanding of Clinical Research

Learn more: NCCIH Strategic Plan FY 2021–⁠2025: Mapping a Pathway to Research on Whole Person Health

NCCIH's Budget at NIH

NCCIH is part of NIH, the Nation’s medical research agency and the largest source of funding for medical research in the world. NCCIH receives a small percentage of the NIH budget. Find information on the NCCIH budget here.

How To Learn More About NCCIH Research Priorities

• Sign up for email updates from NCCIH
• Follow the conversation on our research blog
• Attend meetings of the NCCIH advisory council and review approved concepts
• Join us on Twitter and Facebook