50th Facts

Note: This is an archived page that is not updated.

  • NIGMS started the annual DeWitt Stetten Jr., Lecture when it marked its 20th anniversary. David S. Hogness of Stanford University gave the first talk.
  • NIGMS has funded the Nobel Prize-winning work of 81 scientists. Many grantees have also received the Lasker Award and the National Medal of Science.
  • NIGMS was the first NIH institute to have a female director.
  • The average size of an R01 research grant 50 years ago was $22,810 (actual dollars); now it's $343,847.
  • The NIGMS budget ranks 4th out of the 27 NIH institutes and centers.
  • At any given time, NIGMS supports approximately 4,700 research grants' approximately 11  percent of the grants funded by NIH as a whole.
  • NIGMS supports more than a quarter of all of the trainees who receive assistance from NIH.
  • The NIGMS Feedback Loop is among the first institute blogs at NIH. More than 40 staff members have contributed posts.
  • NIGMS does not have any labs in the NIH intramural program, but it does have a small program to train postdoctoral fellows in pharmacology.
  • NIGMS received its 100,000th grant application in February 2011.
  • NIGMS produces numerous award-winning science education materials.
  • Also turning 50 this year: the Biomedical Technology Research ​Centers that were recently transferred to NIGMS. These centers have been responsible for many milestones, including introducing computers into lab settings and utilizing magnetic spin resonance for analytical research and clinical imaging.