Office of AIDS Research

Vision To advance research to end the HIV pandemic and improve health outcomes for people with HIV. Mission To ensure that NIH HIV/AIDS research funding is directed at the highest priority research areas and to facilitate maximal return on the investment. History In June 1981, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published the first of many Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Reports (MMWR) related to the disease that would later be named Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome or AIDS. In 1982, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) identified associated HIV/AIDS funding. In May 1983, Congress passed the first bill with specific funding for AIDS research and treatment across the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) conducted most of NIH’s early HIV/AIDS research. By 1985, NIAID was the lead NIH Institute sponsoring HIV/AIDS research. However, HIV/AIDS posed many challenges which exceeded the mission of any one Institute, as it is a multi-system and multi-organ disease involving malignancies; opportunistic infections; and cardiovascular, neurological, gastrointestinal, and other complications. HIV/AIDS also affects people across the lifespan. Furthermore, behavioral and biomedical interventions are needed to prevent new infections. Thus, nearly every NIH Institute, Center, and Office (ICO) became involved in conducting or supporting HIV/AIDS research. As the expanding pandemic required increased coordination, the Office of AIDS Research (OAR) was established in 1988. The Office was first established by the Assistant Secretary for Health and later codified in the Health Omnibus Extension of 1988 (Public Law 100-607). Over time, the growing HIV/AIDS research program required additional coordination and budgetary authority. Although establishing a new NIH ICO dedicated to HIV/AIDS research was considered, this approach would have caused considerable disruption of ongoing science.