- National Institutes of Health.
abbreviation for (in the US)
- National Institutes of Health
abbr.
- National Institutes of Health
A U.S. government agency headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, which conducts and supports a wide range of medical research. NIH comprises thirteen separate agencies, each responsible for a different aspect of health, such as allergy and immunology, heart and lung, and so on. NIH also plays a role in training research scientists and providing and distributing biological and medical information.