Grantmakers In Health (GIH) recently submitted a comment in response to a Request for Information from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) about the NIH-Wide Strategic Plan Framework for FY27–FY31. The Strategic Plan outlines NIH’s vision for biomedical research direction, capacity, and stewardship, and lays out NIH’s proposed priorities over the next five years—Research Areas, Research Capacity, and Research Operations.
In the comment, GIH encouraged NIH to further strengthen its commitment to research that improves health outcomes by addressing the underlying drivers of health. GIH noted that research should examine the social determinants of health that shape disease risk, progression, and response to treatment; prioritize research designs that include populations historically underrepresented in biomedical research; meaningfully engage impacted communities and community-based organizations throughout the research process; and support studies assessing both efficacy and real-world effectiveness.
GIH also encouraged NIH to continue investing in training, mentoring, and career development pathways to develop and sustain an interdisciplinary research workforce, particularly by supporting researchers from historically underrepresented backgrounds. GIH’s comment emphasized the need for NIH to continue promoting practices that make research more accessible and understandable to a broad range of stakeholders, including communities that participate in or are intended to benefit from research. Finally, GIH highlighted several additional areas of focus that could strengthen the Strategic Plan, including vaccine accessibility and rural health as cross‑cutting considerations within NIH’s research agenda.