Jay Bhattacharya
Director, National Institutes of Health
NIH Office of the Director
1 yr
5 reports
National Institutes of Health
NIH Director leads a federated, institute-based biomedical research agency
Government · Divisional structure · 20K employees · Bethesda, MD
5
Agency head span
near peer avg (5)
5
Avg span
wide
2
Max depth
2 levels
Interactive org chart
National Institutes of Health organizational chart
Explore the agency leadership model, component structure, and reporting layers from official public sources.
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NIH is led by a presidentially appointed Director and organized around multiple semi-autonomous Institutes and Centers coordinated by the NIH Office of the Director within HHS. Leadership details sourced from official NIH pages.
What to model
Use the chart to test org decisions, not just view reporting lines
Start with the public baseline, then use the scenario views and source-backed changes to ask what happens when leadership, span, or team ownership shifts.
Scenario views in the chart
- Add Cross-NIH Data and AI Coordination Role Model adding a Chief Data and AI Officer reporting to the NIH Director to coordinate data sharing and AI initiatives across Institutes.
Atlas work this supports
- Compare public operating models Use this official-source baseline to compare agencies, components, reporting layers, and field-office networks.
- Model vacancies and transitions Create planning scenarios for acting leaders, new offices, component moves, and cross-agency coordination changes.
- Keep an official source trail Track source URLs, leadership updates, and agency structure changes in one Atlas workspace for review.
The people
Key leaders and offices
6 senior leadership roles or offices from official public sources. Use this section as a current agency-leadership index, not a private-company filing table.
Matthew J. Memoli
Principal Deputy Director
NIH Office of the Director
0 reports
Roland A. Owens
Acting Deputy Director for Intramural Research
Intramural Research Program
0 reports
Jon R. Lorsch
Deputy Director for Extramural Research
Extramural Research
0 reports
Alfred C. Johnson
Deputy Director for Management
Management
0 reports
Nicole C. Kleinstreuer
Deputy Director for Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives
Program Coordination and Strategy
0 reports
The operating model
How National Institutes of Health divides the work
4 offices, branches, or components organize the agency mission. Tile size scales with estimated staff where public estimates exist.
NIH Office of the Director
1K employees
nih_dir
Central leadership and coordination office responsible for policy, planning, budget formulation, and cross-NIH initiatives.
National Cancer Institute
3K employees
Institute Director (varies)
Leads the national effort to understand, prevent, diagnose, and treat cancer.
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
2K employees
Institute Director (varies)
Conducts and supports research to understand, treat, and prevent infectious, immunologic, and allergic diseases.
NIH Clinical Center
2K employees
Clinical Center Director (varies)
The nation’s largest hospital devoted entirely to clinical research.
The agency brief
What this U.S. agency structure tells us
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary federal agency for conducting and supporting biomedical and behavioral research. Operating as a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), NIH is structurally distinctive for its federated, institute-based model. The NIH Director exercises central policy, budgetary, and strategic authority through the NIH Office of the Director while coordinating 27 Institutes and Centers that each pursue disease- or science-specific missions. This model balances centralized stewardship with decentralized scientific autonomy, enabling cross-institute initiatives while preserving depth in specialized research domains. NIH’s mission directly serves the public by advancing knowledge to improve health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability.
- Federated institute-based structure
- Large extramural grants portfolio
- Integrated intramural research and clinical center
The comparison
Compare with related agencies
Compared with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which is more operational and public-health response–oriented, NIH emphasizes investigator-driven research through grants and intramural science. Unlike the National Science Foundation (NSF), NIH maintains a large intramural research program and a …
Senior office count
National Institutes of Health
6
Reporting depth
National Institutes of Health
2 levels
3 levels
3 levels
Current signals
What changed recently
No additional leadership changes documented beyond the current NIH Director and Deputy Directors as of the current quarter.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who leads the National Institutes of Health?
The National Institutes of Health is led by the NIH Director, currently Jay Bhattacharya, M.D., Ph.D.
What does the National Institutes of Health do?
NIH conducts and supports biomedical and behavioral research to improve health, reduce illness, and extend life.
What are the major offices or components of the National Institutes of Health?
NIH is composed of the NIH Office of the Director and 27 Institutes and Centers, including the National Cancer Institute and the NIH Clinical Center.
Who does the National Institutes of Health report to?
NIH is an agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and ultimately reports to the Secretary of HHS.
How can this org chart be used for planning or coordination?
The org chart helps stakeholders understand NIH leadership, reporting relationships, and how institute-based components align under the NIH Director for cross-cutting initiatives.
Sources
Reference
Cite this page
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APA 7th
Creately. (2026). National Institutes of Health organizational structure. Creately. Retrieved , from https://creately.com/org-chart/us-government/national-institutes-of-health/MLA 9th
"National Institutes of Health Organizational Structure." Creately, April 1, 2026, https://creately.com/org-chart/us-government/national-institutes-of-health/. Accessed .Chicago 17
Creately. "National Institutes of Health Organizational Structure." Last modified April 1, 2026. https://creately.com/org-chart/us-government/national-institutes-of-health/.Permanent URL: https://creately.com/org-chart/us-government/national-institutes-of-health/ · last updated 2026-04-01