ORIP Director’s Message
Research infrastructure provides an essential foundation for groundbreaking biomedical discoveries. ORIP helps enable research across nearly all NIH institutes, centers, and offices (ICOs). ORIP collaborates with NIH ICOs and other federal partners to develop and maintain infrastructure that strengthens existing programs, advances areas of emerging science, and facilitates new research initiatives. In the ORIP 2026–2030 Strategic Plan, ORIP outlines its vision to create and maintain resources to advance biomedical research.
ORIP’s new strategic plan is aligned with NIH’s key strategic themes: (1) focus on human health, (2) emphasis on replicability and generalizability of research, and (3) promotion of innovation and academic freedom. ORIP plays a key role in advancing these priorities by investing in foundational infrastructure that supports research outcomes, as well as enabling progress across the research continuum—from basic discovery to real-world implementation.
ORIP is part of the NIH Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives, which identifies scientific research gaps and emerging opportunities, as well as arising public health challenges. ORIP is uniquely positioned to provide a crosscutting vantage point within NIH by identifying critical infrastructure for research that is relevant to emerging public health needs. In this role, ORIP supports NIH ICOs and engages with broad scientific communities.
As a core guiding principle, ORIP’s mission is centered on “Infrastructure for Innovation.” In alignment with this principle, the office provides investments for research that would be unachievable without such support. ORIP’s strategic investments enable progress in a broad range of critical areas, including shared instrumentation for investigators or institutional programs with limited resources; the advancement and integration of new approach methodologies (NAMs); and well-characterized, pathogen-free, and genetically modified models for studying human diseases. Validated NAMs can complement traditional research models and contribute to a more complete understanding of disease mechanisms—ultimately accelerating the development of targeted diagnostics and therapeutics.
As we look toward the future, ORIP remains committed to supporting NIH and the scientific community. Our office will continue to drive transformative innovation through strategic infrastructure and resource investments. This strategic plan emphasizes ORIP’s commitment to adapting and leading across the biomedical research landscape. ORIP remains responsive and anticipatory to national and global health challenges, and we maintain our commitment to promoting scientific excellence, collaboration, and flexibility across NIH.