Funding News Edition: February 03, 2021 See more articles in this edition
At the open session of NIAID’s January 25, 2021 Advisory Council meeting, Dr. Fauci presented updates on fiscal year (FY) 2021 budget appropriations, staff changes, legislative activities, COVID-19, and more.
This article summarizes the budget news and paylines segment. Expect a follow-up article in our next issue to cover other items from Council. You can also review the archived video at NIAID Advisory Council Meeting—January 2021.
NIH Budget
In December 2020, NIH received a $42.9 billion appropriation for FY 2021 through Public Law 116-260, which is an increase in NIH's overall budget of $1.25 billion over the FY 2020 level.
The appropriation law included another $1.25 billion in supplemental spending to NIH for coronavirus response and relief that is available through FY 2024. Of that $1.25 billion total:
- $1.15 billion supports research and clinical trials related to the long-term effects of COVID-19.
- $100 million continues support of the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) program
Find more detail on COVID-19 emergency supplemental funding for research on pathogenesis, epidemiology, diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines starting at the 23-minute mark in the Council video linked above.
Dr. Fauci also summarized the budget distribution for NIH institutes and centers. Find dollar amounts listed at NIAID Budget Data Comparisons.
NIAID Budget, Paylines, and More
NIAID’s budget increased by 3.1 percent to $6.07 billion in FY 2021. Dr. Fauci highlighted several key points:
- An additional $20 million for developing universal influenza vaccines
- An increase of $10 million to the Centers for AIDS Research for the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative
- $10 million more to combat Lyme disease and related tick-borne illnesses
- $40 million to be evenly divided among the 12 Regional Biocontainment Labs, initially funded in FY 2003, to continue efforts to prevent, prepare for, and respond to infectious disease outbreaks
Dr. Fauci announced these fiscal year NIAID Paylines:
- Research projects (R01)—14 percentile for established principal investigators (PIs), 18 percentile for new PIs
- Small grants (R03)—31 overall impact score
- Exploratory/developmental grants (R21)—31 overall impact score
He estimated FY 2021 success rates between 22 and 24 percent for NIAID-funded research project grants. We are not planning any programmatic cuts for noncompeting or competing grants.
For more, visit NIAID’s Paylines & Funding section. It also includes updates for developments that happened after Council:
- Check Salary Cap, Stipends, & Training Funds for FY 2021 salary cap and stipend levels for National Research Service Awards.
- Our Financial Management Plan links to NIH’s January 29, 2021 Guide notice on legislative mandates.