National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities

ABOUT NIMHD The National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) is one of the 27 Institutes and Centers of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the nation's premiere medical research agency. NIMHD's work touches the lives of millions of Americans burdened by disparities in health status and health care delivery, including racial and ethnic minority groups, rural populations, populations with low socioeconomic status, and other population groups. MISSION NIMHD's mission is to lead scientific research to improve minority health and reduce health disparities. To accomplish this, NIMHD - Plans, coordinates, reviews, and evaluates NIH minority health and health disparities research and activities; - Conducts and supports research in minority health and health disparities; - Promotes and supports the training of a diverse research workforce; - Translates and disseminates research information; and - Fosters innovative collaborations and partnerships. VISION NIMHD envisions an America in which all populations will have an equal opportunity to live long, healthy, and productive lives. To accomplish this, NIMHD raises national awareness about the prevalence and impact of health disparities and disseminates effective individual-, community-, and population-level interventions to reduce and encourage elimination of health disparities. History NIMHD was first established as the National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities in 2000 and redesignated as an Institute in 2010, as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (P.L. 111-148). The Institute's full history dates back to the creation of the Office of Minority Programs in the NIH Office of the Director in 1990. Then in 1993, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) established the Office of Research on Minority Health, which developed a research agenda for minority health at NIH.