History
and Background:
The
Office of Disease Prevention (ODP) and Associate
Directorship for Disease Prevention were
established by Congressional mandate in 1985.
ODP is one of several offices within the NIH
Office
of the Director
(OD), as illustrated by our organizational
chart.
These offices are led by Associate Directors who
advise the NIH Director on specific areas of
health and research, and coordinate research
across the 25 Institutes and Centers that
comprise the National Institutes of Health. The
collective research components of the NIH make
up the largest biomedical research facility in
the world. NIH is part of the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services.
Mission
The
mission of ODP is to foster, coordinate and
assess research in prevention which seeks to
improve public health in the nation and
throughout the world. ODP collaborates with
other federal agencies, academic institutions,
the private sector, non-governmental
organizations and international organizations in
the formulation of research initiatives and
policies that promote public health, and advises
the NIH Director on these topics.
Organizational
Structure:
To
carry out these diverse responsibilities, ODP
has several administrative units: the
Office
of Dietary Supplements,
the Office
of Medical Applications of
Research,
and the Office
of Rare Diseases.
(See Organizational
Chart
for ODP.) In addition, a Prevention
Research Coordinating
Committee
has representatives from every NIH Institute and
Center as well as other governmental health
agencies.
