NIH’s Institutes and Centers to Be Reorganized and Consolidated

In its FY2026 Budget in Brief, the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) describes plans to reorganize and consolidate its various Centers and Institutes to enhance efficiencies and make better use of federal funds. The new budget consolidates the 27 institutes within the NIH down to 8 and proposes to eliminate the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. The National Institutes on Alcohol Abuse & Alcoholism, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health will be combined into a newly created single National Institute of Behavioral Health. The Budget in Brief is a proposal and would need to be addressed by Congress in order to be implemented but is an indicator of the Administration’s priorities.