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Congressional Justification FY2010

Department of Health and Human Services
National Institutes of Health
National Library of Medicine (NLM)

2010 Congressional Justification (PDF)

FY 2010 Budget

National Library of Medicine Organization Structure

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FY 2010 Proposed Appropriation Language
National Institutes of Health

National Library of Medicine

For carrying out section 301 and title IV of the Public Health Service Act ("PHS Act") with respect to health information communications, [$330,771,000] $334,347,000, of which $4,000,000 shall be available until expended for improvement of information systems: Provided, that in fiscal year [2009] 2010, the National Library of Medicine may enter into personal services contracts for the provisions of services in facilities owned, operated, or constructed under the jurisdiction of the National Institutes of Health: Provided further, that in addition to amounts provided herein, $8,200,000 shall be available from amounts available under section 241 of the [Public Health Service Act] PHS Act to carry out the purposes of the National Information Center on Health Services Research and Health Care Technology established under section 478A of the [Public Health Service Act] PHS Act and related health services. (Department of Health and Human Services Appropriations Act, 2009)

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Amounts available for obligation 1/

Source of Funding FY 2008 Actual FY 2009 Estimate FY 2010 President's Budget
Appropriation $326,669,000 $330,771,000 $334,347,000
Type 1 Diabetes 0 0 0
Rescission -5,707,000 0 0
Supplemental 1,705,000 0 0
Subtotal, adjusted appropriation 322,667,000 330,771,000 334,347,000
Real transfer under Director's one-percent transfer authority (GEI) 720,000 0 0
Comparative transfer to NIDCR -455,000 0 0
Comparative transfer under Director's one-percent transfer authority (GEI) -720,000 0 0
Subtotal, adjusted budget authority 322,212,000 330,771,000 334,347,000
Unobligated balance, start of year 10,000 0 0
Unobligated balance, end of year 0 0 0
Subtotal, adjusted  budget authority 322,222,000 330,771,000 334,347,000
Unobligated balance lapsing -12,000 0 0
Total obligations 322,210,000 330,771,000 334,347,000

1/Excludes the following amounts for reimbursable activities carried out by this account: 
FY 2008 - $24,703,000, FY 2009 - $27,300,000, FY 2010 - $27,875,000
Excludes $3,000 in FY 2009 and $8,500 in FY 2010 for royalties.

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Budget Mechanism - Total (Dollars in Thousands)

Mechanism

FY 2008
Actual No.

 FY 2008
Actual Amount		 FY 2009
Actual No.		 FY 2009
Actual Amount		 FY 2010
Actual No.		 FY 2010
Actual Amount		 Change
No.		 Change
Amount
Research Grants:  
Research Projects:  
Noncompeting 62 $19,739 68 $20,041 59 $18,875 (9) -$1,166
Administrative supplements (3) 72 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 0
Competing:  
Renewal 3 1,213 2 850 3 1,220 1 370
New 25 6,395 24 6,609 27 7,576 3 967
Supplements 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Subtotal, competing 28 7,608 26 7,459 30 8,796 4 1,337
Subtotal, RPGs 90 27,419 94 27,500 89 27,671 (5) 171
SBIR/STTR 2 979 5 770 5 775 0 5
Subtotal, RPGs 92 28,398 99 28,270 94 28,446 (5) 176
Research Centers:  
Specialized/comprehensive 0 766 0 0 0 0 0 0
Clinical research 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Biotechnology 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Comparative medicine 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Research Centers in Minority Institutions 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Subtotal, Centers 0 766 0 0 0 0 0 0
Other Research:  
Research careers 12 1,560 12 1,575 12 1,599 0 24
Cancer education 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Cooperative clinical research 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Biomedical research support 5 2,770 5 2,776 5 2,818 0 42
Minority biomedical research support 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Other 70 18,880 59 16,580 54 15,586 (5) -994
Subtotal, Other Research 87 23,210 76 20,931 71 20,003 (5) -928
Total Research Grants 179 52,374 175 49,201 165 48,449 (10) -752
Research Training:  FTTPs  FTTPs  FTTPs    
Individual awards 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Institutional awards 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total, Training 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Research & development contracts 14 17,269 13 17,738 13 18,079 0 341
(SBIR/STTR) 0 0 (0) (0) (0) (0) (0) (0)
  FTEs   FTEs   FTEs   FTEs  
Intramural programs 621 240,262 637 251,242 650 255,009 13 3,767
Research management and support 78 12,307 94 12,590 96 12,810 2 220
Construction   0   0   0   0
Buildings and Facilities   0   0   0   0
Total, NLM 699 322,212 731 330,771 746 334,347 15 3,576

Includes FTEs which are reimbursed from the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research

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Budget Authority by Activity

Extramural Research

FY 2006 Actual FTEs

 FY 2006 Actual Amount FY 2007 Actual FTEs FY 2007 Actual Amount FY 2008 Actual FTEs FY 2008 Actual Amount FY 2008 Comparable FTEs FY 2008 Comparable Amount FY 2009 Estimate FTEs FY 2009 Estimate Amount FY 2010 President's Budget FTEs FY 2010 President's Budget Amount Change FTEs Change Amount
Detail:  
Health Information for Health Professionals and Public (NN/LM)   $12,701   $13,201   $12,585   $12,585   $12,585   $12,774   189
Informatics Infrastructure   25,813   25,813   24,311   24,841   22,135   21,225   -910
Informatics Research   30,733   32,573   32,217   32,217   32,219   32,529   310
Subtotal, Extramural   69,247   71,587   69,113   69,643   66,939   66,528   -411
Intramural programs 580 233,023 598 237,646 621 241,979 621 240,262 637 251,242 650 255,009 13 3,767
Res. management & support 76 11,807 78 12,121 78 12,307 78 12,307 94 12,590 96 12,810 2 220
TOTAL 656 314,077 676 321,354 699 323,399 699 322,212 731 330,771 746 334,347 15 3,576

 

Includes FTEs which are reimbursed from the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research

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Major changes in budget request

Major changes by budget mechanism and/or budget activity detail are described below. Note that there may be overlap between budget mechanism and activity detail and these highlights will not sum to the total change for the FY 2010 budget request for NLM, which is $3.576 million more than the FY 2009 Estimate, for a total of $334.347million.

Intramural Programs (+$3.767 million; total $255.009 million): NLM will support salary increases, incremental cost of literature purchases, and contractual services in order to maintain its national biomedical information services, including the development and dissemination of molecular biology and genomic information and other services that provide access to the results of cancer research.

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Summary of Changes

FY 2009 estimate $330,771,000
FY 2010 estimated budget authority $334,347,000
Net Change $3,576,000

CHANGES 2009 Current Estimate Base
FTEs		 2009 Current Estimate Base
Budget Authority		 Change from Base
FTEs		 Change from Base
Budget Authority
A. Built-in:  
1. Intramural programs:  
a. Annualization of January 2009 pay increase   $74,752,000   $893,000
b. January FY 2010 pay increase   74,752,000   1,121,000
c. Zero less days of pay   74,752,000   0
d. Payment for centrally furnished services   8,386,000   168,000
e. Increased cost of laboratory supplies, materials, and other expenses   168,104,000   2,690,000
Subtotal       4,872,000
2. Research management and support:        
a. Annualization of January2009 pay increase   $8,867,000   $106,000
b. January FY 2010 pay increase   8,867,000   133,000
c. Zero less days of pay   8,867,000   0
d. Payment for centrally furnished services   0   0
e. Increased cost of laboratory supplies,        
materials, and other expenses   3,723,000   60,000
Subtotal       299,000
Subtotal, Built-in       5,171,000
B. Program:  
1. Research project grants:  
a. Noncompeting 68 $20,041,000 (9) ($1,166,000)
b. Competing 26 7,459,000 4 1,337,000
c. SBIR/STTR 5 770,000 0 5,000
Total 99 28,270,000 (5) 176,000
2. Research centers 0 0 0 0
3. Other research 76 20,931,000 (5) (928,000)
4. Research training 0 0 0 0
5. Research and development contracts 13 17,738,000 0 341,000
Subtotal, extramural       (411,000)
  FTEs   FTEs  
6. Intramural programs 637 251,242,000 13 (1,105,000)
7. Research management and support 94 12,590,000 2 (79,000)
8. Construction   0   0
9. Buildings and Facilities   0   0
Subtotal, program   330,771,000   (1,595,000)
Total changes 731   15 3,576,000

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Fiscal Year 2010 Budget Graphs

History of Budget Authority and FTEs:

FTEs by Fiscal Year

FTEs by Fiscal Year

Data for FTEs by Fiscal Year Chart
Year FTEs
2006 656
2007 676
2008 699
2009 731
2010 746
Funding Levels by Fiscal Year

Funding Levels by Fiscal Year

Data for Funding Levels by Fiscal Year Chart
Year FTEs
2006 314.1
2007 319.8
2008 322.2
2009 330.8
2010 334.3

Distribution by Mechanism:

FY 2010 Budget Mechanism

FY 2010 Budget Mechanism

Data for FY 2010 Budget Mechanism Chart
Programs Percentage
Intramural Programs 76%
Research Project Grants 8%
R&D Contracts 6%
Other Research 6%
RM&S 4%
Research Training 0%
Research Centers 0%

Change by Selected Mechanisms:

FY 2010 Estimate Percent Change from FY 2009

FY 2010 Estimate Percent Change from FY 2009

Data for FY 2010 Estimate Percent Change from FY 2009 Chart
Programs Percentage
Intramural Programs 1.5 %
Research Project Grants 0.6 %
R&D Contracts 1.9 %
Other Research -4.4 %
RM&S 1.7 %
Research Training 0.0 %
Research Centers 0.0 %

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Justification narrative

Authorizing Legislation: Section 301 and title IV of the Public Health Service Act, as amended.

 

FY 2008
Appropriation

 FY 2009
Omnibus		 FY 2009
Recovery Act		 FY 2010
President's Budget		 FY 2010
+/- 2009
Omnibus
BA $322,212,000 $330,771,000 $83,643,000 $334,347,000 +$3,576,000
FTE 699 731 0 746 +15

This document provides justification for the Fiscal Year 2010 activities of the National Library of Medicine (NLM), including HIV/AIDS activities. Details of the FY 2010 HIV/AIDS activities are in the "Office of AIDS Research (OAR) section of the Overview. Details on the NIH Common Fund are located in the Overview, Volume One. Program Funds are allocated as follows: Competitive Grants/Cooperative Agreement; Contracts; Direct Federal/Intramural and Other.

In FY 2009, a total of $83,643,000 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds were transferred from the Office of the Director. These funds will be used to support scientific research opportunities that help support the goals of the ARRA. The ARRA allows NIH to execute these funds via any NIH funding mechanism. Funds are available until September 30, 2010. These funds are not included in the FY 2009 Omnibus amounts reflected in this document.

Director's Overview

The National Library of Medicine (NLM) is the world's largest biomedical library and the developer of electronic information services that deliver trillions of bytes of data to millions of users every day. Scientists, health professionals, and the public in the U.S. and around the globe search the Library's online resources nearly two billion times each year. For 172 years, NLM has played a pivotal role in translating biomedical research into practice. Today the Library fulfills this mission by:

The Library stands at the center of biomedical research—receiving, storing, disseminating, and connecting published research results - including articles deposited in response to the Congressionally mandated NIH Public Access Policy - with biological, biochemical, genomic, and clinical research data from laboratories and research centers around the world.

Equally important to NLM's mission is providing timely, accurate, and understandable information to help patients, their families, and the public play a more active role in managing their health and health care. The heavily used Web-based health information services and the NIH MedlinePlus magazine (recently expanded to include a Spanish language edition) transmit the latest useful research findings in lay language and also provide guidance that can be easily understood by the public. NLM partners with libraries and community-based organizations to increase public awareness and use of these valuable resources.

NLM's ClinicalTrials.gov database serves the full spectrum of user groups: researchers, health professionals, and the public. This database contains information about more than 70,000 clinical research studies in more than 160 countries, with hundreds added each week. In response to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Amendments Act of 2007, ClinicalTrials.gov was recently expanded to accept more extensive information about trials of drugs, devices and other therapies, including summary results data for completed trials of FDA-approved medical products.

NLM continues to focus on the goals of its 2006-2016 Long Range Plan, including key activities in support of interoperable electronic health records, more effective response to disasters and emergencies, development of a robust knowledge base for personalized health care, reduction of health disparities, and improved health literacy.

Personal health records can contribute to all of these goals. NLM is developing personal health record tools that can help individuals caring for elderly parents or young children to enter test results, prescriptions, problems and immunizations, with links to MedlinePlus information about prescriptions and reminders about preventive care, such as flu shots. These same tools can be used to enhance electronic health records used by doctors and in long term care facilities. This work builds upon the Library's history of supporting, developing, and disseminating standard medical terminologies in the Unified Medical Language System, as well as on informatics research. As the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) coordinating body for clinical terminologies, NLM plays a leadership role in developing U.S. and international health data standards, including the expansion of standards to cover genetic tests.

NLM is committed to improving the nation's ability to prepare for and respond to disasters. In collaboration with the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, the newly established Disaster Information Management Research Center partners with other federal agencies to identify, develop, and deploy tools and information services that can assist first-responders and others involved in disaster management. NLM aims to promote more effective use of libraries and disaster information specialists in disaster management efforts, as well as to ensure uninterrupted access to critical health information resources when disasters occur.

NLM's NCBI works to promote scientific discovery by organizing and providing rapid access to the flood of data resulting from high throughput sequencing and bioassay technologies. NCBI's database of Genotype and Phenotype (dbGaP) makes the results of Genome Wide Association Studies available to researchers. By linking genomic and clinical data for the same patients, dbGaP helps to identify genetic variations that may affect predisposition to disease or response to therapy.

In addition to longstanding outreach partnerships with libraries, minority-serving institutions, and community-based organizations, NLM continues to place high priority on developing and testing novel methods for increasing awareness and use of its health information services. Information prescriptions, major exhibitions, announcements by media stars, games for school children, and libraries in virtual worlds are just some of the ways used to ensure that everyone in the United States has a known, easily accessible and understandable source of high quality health information.

NLM will continue to fund meritorious extramural projects relating to cancer that are received through its grant programs or undertaken by its informatics research trainees.

FY 2010 JUSTIFICATION BY ACTIVITY DETAIL

Program Descriptions and Accomplishments

Overall Budget Policy: NLM's highest priorities are maintaining the quality and integrity of the nation's archival collection of biomedical information and of the high volume services that make this information available across the US and the world. These activities are the focus of NLM's intramural programs and account for approximately 75percent of the budget. The work includes both building and maintaining the collection of biomedical literature and building and providing access to electronic information services in areas spanning biomedical and genomic research, clinical trials, health care, toxicology, environmental health, and high quality health information for the general public. In its extramural program, NLM will continue to provide access to biomedical and health information in partnership with the 5,800member National Network of Libraries of Medicine and support its broad grant programs including a substantial investment in informatics research and training. Intramural Research and Research Management and Support receive increases to help cover the cost of pay and other increases. NLM will continue to support new investigators and to maintain an adequate number of competing RPGs.

Intramural Activity Details

NLM's intramural programs acquire, organize, preserve, and provide access to the world's biomedical literature. NLM also serves as a leading resource for molecular biology, genomic, and clinical trials information; provides information services on toxicology, disaster preparedness, and environmental health; and conducts research and development on systems, technologies and networks for information access by researchers, health professionals, patients and the general public.

Delivering Reliable, High Quality Biomedical and Health Information Services:
At the core of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) are the world's largest, continually expanding collection of biomedical literature and a broad array of authoritative databases for health professionals, researchers, the public, and librarians and information specialists who serve them. NLM develops and uses sophisticated computer systems to support the complex, high volume operations necessary to acquire, describe, and provide rapid access to materials in its collections and to build and refine electronic databases and services for many different audiences.

In FY 2008, NLM greatly expanded the quantity and range of high quality information readily available to researchers, health professionals, and the general public. Major advances included: the addition of clinical phenotype and genomic data from more than 25Genome Wide Association Studies in dbGaP, which promise to fuel discovery of genetic variations associated with common diseases; a 50% increase in the number of full text articles in PubMed Central, which now provides public access to more than 1.76million articles, including those produced by NIH-funded researchers; the addition to MedlinePlus of high quality consumer health information in more than 40 languages (beyond English and Spanish) to address the growing need for understandable information for non-English-speaking patients treated in hospitals and clinics across the United States; the expansion of ClinicalTrials.gov to provide more comprehensive information – including summary results -- about a larger set of clinical trials of FDA-regulated products; and development of new information services on dietary supplements, women's health issues, disaster preparation and response, and other important topics. Furthermore, approximately 700,000 new citations were added to the heavily used PubMed database of biomedical journal literature.

Budget Policy: The FY 2010 Budget request is $112.979 million, an increase of $1.563million or 1.4 percent from the FY 2009 appropriation of $111.416 million. In FY2010, the Library will concentrate on maintaining its current high level of services and, where possible, enhance and expand its most heavily used resources, including Medline/PubMed and PubMed Central, which provide critical access to published biomedical research results worldwide. Another key service, MedlinePlus, contains a wide range of information written and formatted for consumers. Keeping MedlinePlus current with new information (in English, Spanish and other languages) from NIH and other reliable sources is a high priority in FY 2010. ClinicalTrials.gov will continue to require significant expansion in FY 2010 to accommodate the results reporting provisions of the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act of 2007.

Promoting Public Awareness and Access to Information: The NLM has extensive outreach programs to make biomedical researchers, health professionals, librarians, patients, their families, and other members of the public aware of the extensive information services. To improve access to high quality health information heavy use is made of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine and other formal partnerships including the Partners in Information Access for the Public Health Workforce, Environmental Health Information Outreach Program with Historically Black Colleges and Universities, tribal colleges, and other minority serving institutions. NLM also fosters informal partnerships, such as the Information Rx program to promote MedlinePlus usage by encouraging physicians to write "information prescriptions" for their patients, and uses exhibitions, the media, and new technologies in its efforts to reach underserved populations. As part of its outreach efforts, NLM continually solicits feedback from users on how existing resources can be improved.

In FY 2008, dozens of community-based projects were funded across the country to enhance awareness and access to health information, using a combination of "high touch" and the latest information and communication technologies. In addition to its longstanding partnership with the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, NLM developed new relationships with numerous groups in the public and private sectors, to provide vital health information resources to health professionals and the general public in the U.S. and around the world. With assistance from other NIH components and outside partners, NLM continues to increase the distribution of the NIH MedlinePlus magazine. Distribution has increased from 50,000 copies of each issue in 2006 to a distribution of over 500,000 copies of the summer 2008 issue. The opening of a major exhibition, "Against the Odds: Making a Difference in Global Health" provided an important opportunity to highlight collections and services relevant to underserved populations. The exhibition is available online and will begin to travel to cities across the country in November 2008 with the support of the Association of Schools of Public Health. New initiatives sought to improve access by underrepresented minority populations, enhance the understanding of Native American concepts of health and illness leading to a future exhibition on that subject, and to develop a comprehensive approach to educational outreach that encourages K-12 interest in and knowledge about health careers that address and may reduce health disparities in our nation.

Budget Policy: The FY 2010 Budget request is $7.319 million, an increase of $0.112million or 1.6 percent from the FY 2009 appropriation of $7.207 million. In

FY 2010, NLM will continue its outreach programs with a special emphasis on those aimed at underserved and minority populations. As recommended by the 2006-2016 Long Range Plan, NLM will develop and test innovative outreach methods, including infrastructure improvements (for example, PDAs, intelligent agents, and network techniques) to "enable ubiquitous health information access in homes, schools, public libraries, and work places." Also as recommended in the Plan, the Library will continue to use its major historical exhibitions as a means for improving science and health literacy and promoting interest in biomedical careers, as well as increasing awareness and use of NLM information services.

Portrait of a Program: National Network of Libraries of Medicine

FY 2009 Level: $12.585 million
FY 2010 Level: $12.774 million
Change: +$ 0.189 million

The 5,800 member institutions of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine are valued partners in ensuring that health information, including NLM's many services, is available to scientists, health professionals, and the public. Comprised of academic health sciences libraries, hospital libraries, public libraries and community-based organizations, member institutions support interlibrary lending, exhibit at health-related conferences, offer training courses, and develop partnerships with community organizations to improve information access for underserved populations.

The Network is a key player in the MedlinePlus "Go Local" service, started in 2003 to provide information about local community services, including hospital, clinics, support groups, and community-based organizations, to complement the nationally applicable health information in MedlinePlus. There is Go Local coverage for 44percent of the US population; expanding this reach is an important goal for the Library in FY 2009.

The Network plays a pivotal role in many NLM-wide efforts to expand outreach and services to the public, and address health literacy and racial and ethnic disparities. With an excellent track record of providing access to health information for clinicians and patients displaced by disasters, the Network is the backbone of NLM's strategy to promote more effective use of libraries and librarians in local, state, and national disaster preparedness and response efforts.

Developing Advanced Information Systems, Standards and Research Tools: The NLM's advanced information services have long benefitted from its intramural research and development (R&D) programs. The Library has two organizations that conduct advanced R&D on different aspects of biomedical communication—the Lister Hill National Center for Biomedical Communications (LHC) and the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). The LHC, established in 1968, conducts and supports research in such areas as the dissemination, processing, and use of high quality imagery; medical language processing; high-speed access to biomedical information; the development and dissemination of health information technology standards; and advanced technology for emergency and disaster management. The NCBI, created in 1988, conducts research and development on the representation, storage, integration, retrieval, and display of biological data, literature, and knowledge; provides an integrated, one-stop, genomic information infrastructure for biomedical researchers at NIH and around the world; helps to set related standards; and uses the resources it creates to conduct research in computational biology.

In FY 2008, NLM's Lister Hill National Center for Biomedical Communication and its National Center for Biotechnology Information advanced the state of knowledge in biomedical informatics and computational biology, collaborated across NLM and with other agencies and organizations to test the effectiveness of informatics interventions, and provided new tools and standards to support biomedical informatics research and health information technology applications worldwide. To cite a few examples, intramural researchers at NLM developed informatics tools that support easy creation of standards-based personal health records, applied advanced natural language processing methods to extract information from biomedical literature to aid NHLBI experts in creating clinical guidelines, discovered a mechanism for immunity in bacteria, improved the automatic detection of gene and protein names in scientific text, and provided tools that enabled rapid expansion of the PubChem database of more than 650 types of bioassays and associated test results for over 12million substances, for use in identification of potential new drugs. NLM made substantial contributions toward standardized reporting of genetic variations and clinical interpretation of genetic test results by augmenting RefSeqGene with more than 600reference sequences for clinically significant genes, adding data about disease-causing mutations from Locus-specific databases to dbSNP, the internationally recognized database of variation, and expanding the LOINC (Logical Observations: Identifiers, Names, Codes) standard to cover 44 more variables needed to deliver structured clinical reports about sequencing and chip-based genetic tests.

Budget Policy: The FY 2010 Budget request is $134.711 million, an increase of $2.092million or 1.6 percent from the FY 2009 appropriation of $132.619 million. In accordance with the 2006-2016 Long Range Plan, NLM's research divisions will engage in critical research and development projects that are important to today's scientific community and that will have even greater influence in the future. In addition to NCBI's trans-NIH collaborations, other NLM intramural researchers will continue to pursue disaster management information research in partnership with the NIH Clinical Center, the Department of Defense, and Suburban Hospital; to develop advanced imaging tools for cancer diagnosis in cooperation with the National Cancer Institute; and to work with NIH-funded Clinical and Translational Research Centers on health data standardization issues. The Library will continue to serve as an HHS coordinating center for standard clinical vocabularies and to support, develop, or license for US-wide use key clinical vocabularies, including SNOMED CT®.

Portrait of a Program: National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI)

FY 2009 Level: $83.108 million
FY 2010 Level: $84.397 million
Change: +$ 1.289 million

The establishment of the National Center for Biotechnology Information in 1988 has proved to be a boon to the global scientific community. With Web sites accessed several million times a day, the Center is at the hub of international exchange of molecular biology information. NCBI meets the challenge of collecting, organizing, analyzing, and disseminating scientific data by developing and distributing the tools, databases and technologies that enable the genetic discoveries of the 21st century.

Though GenBank (DNA sequences) and PubMed/MEDLINE (abstracts for 18 million scientific articles) databases are most widely known, the NCBI provides a broad array of genomic resources and is a valued collaborator throughout the NIH. PubChem, a repository of 40 million compounds for "small molecules" that are crucial as research tools and in drug development, filled a critical need in the NIH Roadmap Initiative. NCBI's dbGaP resource, a database of Genome Wide Association Studies, is the NIH public repository for linking genotype data with phenotype information to identify genetic factors that influence health, disease, and response to treatment. The NCBI's PubMed Central database, an archive of over 1.7 million full-text journal articles, is central to the efforts of NIH and other major international biomedical research funders to make accessible the published results of research they support. Its standard article formats have been adopted by electronic publishers and archives worldwide.

The next few years promise to be transformative for genetic research as dramatic improvements in sequencing technology produce an explosive growth in genomic data. NCBI resources will offer detailed views of human genetic variation to better understand human biology and develop new approaches for diagnosis and treatment of disease.

Extramural Activity Details

NLM's Extramural programs focus on two priority areas: (1) the creation and enhancement of informatics infrastructure for biomedicine and health whose components include sophisticated computational tools, knowledge resources and skilled informaticians and (2) informatics research. To accomplish its extramural goals, NLM offers five categories of grants: resource grants; training support; career enhancement awards; research grants; and SBIR/STTR grants. On average, NLM makes about 200grant awards per year of which 25-35% are new awards. NLM will continue to fund meritorious extramural projects relating to cancer that are received through its grant programs or undertaken by its informatics research trainees.

Informatics Infrastructure for Biomedicine and Health

For more than 40 years the NLM has funded programs to develop the US biomedical informatics infrastructure, including the informatics research workforce, advanced telecommunications capabilities, and cutting edge information resources. Many of today's Health IT leaders are graduates of NLM-funded university-based informatics research training programs, training nearly 250 people annually at 18institutions across the country. In years past, NLM grants supported the first Internet connections for many health sciences libraries, hospitals, local public health departments, and community organizations. The Library's current infrastructure grant programs support the use of computers and networks for the optimal management and dissemination of health information, and the development of customized information resources for target audiences, as well as the preparation of scholarly works related to the history and philosophy of medicine, biomedical science and relevant public health policy issues. In FY 2008, NLM funding supported 163 predoctoral and 83 postdoctoral informatics trainees, plus 13 short-term minority informatics trainees. Three new career transition awards were issued in FY 2008, along with fifteen new awards for knowledge management or scholarly works. Among the supported awards are projects to explore ways of combining animal and human disease data for surveillance of disease outbreaks, build a Web-based computerized information and management system for use in hospitals during disasters, and conduct research for a publication on "Pesticides and Toxicology: A Century of Environmental Health."

Budget Policy: The FY 2010 Budget request is $21.225 million, a $0.910 million decrease or 4.1% compared to the FY2009 appropriation of $22.135 million. This program builds the informatics expertise and information resources needed to support biomedical scientists, health care providers, public health administrators and health services researchers. Fewer grants will be awarded in this area in FY 2010 in support of NLM's intramural program needs related to electronic systems and storage capacity upgrades. NLM will continue extramural funding support for: (1) its university-based training of research informaticians and information specialists; (2) planning and project grants for knowledge management initiatives for health-related information, including integrated, customized knowledge sources for target audiences; (3) preparation of scholarly publications in the history and philosophy of medicine and biomedical science; and (4) early career transition awards for informaticians.

Program Portrait: Support of Informatics Training

FY 2009 Level: $22.135 million
FY 2010 Level: $21.376 million
Change: -$0.759 million

Through its Extramural Programs Division, NLM remains the principal source of NIH support for research training in biomedical informatics. Informatics requires knowledge of a biological, medical or public health domain as well as computer and information sciences, statistics or mathematics, engineering and human behavior. Developing a cadre of cross-trained researchers is especially important as rapid advancement of health care and biomedical research requires investigators who understand biomedicine as well as fundamental problems of knowledge representation, decision support, translational research, and human-computer interface.

In FY 2007, NLM awarded eighteen five-year institutional training grants for biomedical informatics to support approximately 250 predoctoral and postdoctoral trainees across the U.S. Three other NIH institutes have provided funds to support eight more trainees. To increase diversity in informatics, a special short-term training appointment for underrepresented minorities is available at 12 training programs. This program funded 13 trainees in FY 2008, and NLM hopes to offer the program again in FY 2009.

The average cost for an informatics trainee ranges between $56,000 (predoctoral) and $76,500 (postdoctoral) per year. In FY 2008, NLM provided funding for 243trainees, of which 26 were due to a Supplemental Appropriation to NIH. In FY2009, NLM expects to support 213 trainees. Resources for this initiative are reduced due to budgetary constraints and the resources needed to fund NLM's heavily used information services.

Informatics Research

NLM informatics research grants have supported pioneering research and development in bioinformatics, artificial intelligence in medicine, clinical decision support, biomedical ontology, imaging, electronic medical records, regional health data exchange, health applications of advanced telecommunications networks, automated bio-surveillance, and emergency management systems. These programs advance the science of biomedical informatics, which is the intersection of computer and information sciences with medicine, public health, and biological/behavioral sciences. Biomedical informatics research is fundamental to the sophisticated systems in which biological research and health data are stored, managed, and displayed. NLM programs include basic or applied research; both large and small projects, ranging from major research resources to small business innovation research; and investigator-initiated projects as well as focused requests for applications in target areas important to NLM's mission. These grant programs also include funds for support of unique informatics research resources such as the Biological Magnetic Resonance Data Bank and Protein Data Bank, and for small business innovation research (SBIR/STTR) grants in informatics areas. In FY2008, NLM issued 32 new research awards to organizations, including small businesses, and two NIH Director's Bridge awards to NLM-funded investigators. NLM also issued two new Requests for Applications to recompete the Biomedical Informatics Resource Grant Program and advance research in a new challenge area of discovery mining. Among the newly funded research awards are projects on decision making for health care and public health, including decision making for biosurveillance by public health departments, automatic capture of patient-physician dialogues, and a computational framework for individualized clinical decision making. Other new research awards aim to advance translational research by developing tools for high-throughput analysis of bacterial genomes, identifying patient and pathogen genotype patterns in tuberculosis, and integrating genomic and proteomic research data to increase their clinical utility.

Budget Policy: The FY 2010 Budget request is $32.529 million, an increase of $0.310million, or 1.0 percent, over the FY 2009 appropriation of $32.219 million. Informatics research is fundamental to the sophisticated systems in which research and health data are stored, managed and displayed. NLM plans to continue to strengthen its RPG portfolio through additional challenge grant initiatives, issuing RFAs in informatics focus areas such as computational data mining, natural language understanding, and intelligent personal health records. NLM will continue to accept investigator-initiated grants through NIH parent grant FOAs for R01 and R21. These grant programs also include funds for support of unique informatics research resources such as the Biological Magnetic Resonance Data Bank and Protein Data Bank, and for small business innovation research (SBIR/STTR) grants in informatics areas.

Research Management and Support

Research Management and Support (RMS) activities provide administrative, budgetary, logistical, and scientific support for basic library services, intramural research programs and the review, award and monitoring of research grants and training awards. RMS functions also include strategic planning, coordination, and evaluation of NLM's programs, regulatory compliance, policy development, international coordination and liaison with other Federal agencies, Congress, and the public. Included within this activity are: the Director and his immediate staff, the Office of Extramural Programs, the Office of Administrative Management, the Office of Health Information Programs Development, and the Office of Communications and Public Liaison.

Budget Policy: The FY 2010 Budget request is $12.810 million, an increase of $0.220 million or 1.7 percent above the FY 2009 appropriation of $12.590 million. The focus of RMS will continue to be the coordination of NLM's activities and policies and the development and administration of NLM's grant activities. NLM is a key participant in the NIH Roadmap's Molecular Libraries initiative through its development and distribution of the PubChem small-molecule database (ML2-1). This activity is supported in its entirety by the NIH Common Fund.

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Budget authority by object

  FY 2009 Estimate FY 2010 President's Budget Increase or Decrease Percent Change
Total compensable workyears:  
  Full-time employment 731 746 15 2.1
  Full-time equivalent of overtime and holiday hours 3 3 0 0.0
  Average ES salary $177,822 $188,847 $11,025 6.2
  Average GM/GS grade 10.9 10.9 0.0 0.0
  Average GM/GS salary $84,870 $87,157 $2,287 2.7
  Average salary, grade established by act of July 1, 1944 (42 U.S.C. 207) $78,323 $80,790 $2,467 3.1
  Average salary of ungraded positions 127,041 130,465 3,424 2.7
OBJECT CLASSES FY 2009
Estimate		 FY 2010
Estimate		 Increase or
Decrease		 Percent
Change
  Personnel Compensation:  
11.1 Full-time permanent $43,172,000 $45,299,000 $2,127,000 4.9
11.3 Other than full-time permanent 19,832,000 20,799,000 967,000 4.9
11.5 Other personnel compensation 2,053,000 2,155,000 102,000 5.0
11.7 Military personnel 149,000 156,000 7,000 4.7
11.8 Special personnel services payments 1,711,000 1,794,000 83,000 4.9
  Total, Personnel Compensation 66,917,000 70,203,000 3,286,000 4.9
12.0 Personnel benefits 16,578,000 17,394,000 816,000 4.9
12.2 Military personnel benefits 124,000 130,000 6,000 4.8
13.0 Benefits for former personnel 0 0 0 0.0
  Subtotal, Pay Costs 83,619,000 87,727,000 4,108,000 4.9
21.0 Travel and transportation of persons 964,000 948,000 (16,000) -1.7
22.0 Transportation of things 124,000 122,000 (2,000) -1.6
23.1 Rental payments to GSA 0 0 0 0.0
23.2 Rental payments to others 71,000 71,000 0 0.0
23.3 Communications, utilities and  miscellaneous charges 1,018,000 1,016,000 (2,000) -0.2
24.0 Printing and reproduction 107,000 105,000 (2,000) -1.9
25.1 Consulting services 51,653,000 51,565,000 (88,000) -0.2
25.2 Other services 44,635,000 44,603,000 (32,000) -0.1
25.3 Purchase of goods and services from  government accounts 50,323,000 50,422,000 99,000 0.2
25.4 Operation and maintenance of facilities 5,189,000 5,177,000 (12,000) -0.2
25.5 Research and development contracts 12,969,000 13,285,000 316,000 2.4
25.6 Medical care 0 0 0 0.0
25.7 Operation and maintenance of equipment 9,657,000 9,653,000 (4,000) 0.0
25.8 Subsistence and support of persons 0 0 0 0.0
25.0 Subtotal, Other Contractual Services 174,426,000 174,705,000 279,000 0.2
26.0 Supplies and materials 2,512,000 2,489,000 (23,000) -0.9
31.0 Equipment 18,700,000 18,686,000 (14,000) -0.1
32.0 Land and structures 0 0 0 0.0
33.0 Investments and loans 0 0 0 0.0
41.0 Grants, subsidies and contributions 49,201,000 48,449,000 (752,000) -1.5
42.0 Insurance claims and indemnities 0 0 0 0.0
43.0 Interest and dividends 29,000 29,000 0 0.0
44.0 Refunds 0 0 0 0.0
  Subtotal, Non-Pay Costs 247,152,000 246,620,000 (532,000) -0.2
  Total Budget Authority by Object 330,771,000 334,347,000 3,576,000 1.1

Includes FTEa which are reimbursed from the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research

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Salaries and expenses

OBJECT CLASSES FY 2009
Estimate		 FY 2010
President's Budget		 Increase or
Decrease		 Percent
Change
Personnel Compensation:  
  Full-time permanent (11.1) $43,172,000 $45,299,000 $2,127,000 4.9
  Other than full-time permanent (11.3) 19,832,000 20,799,000 967,000 4.9
  Other personnel compensation (11.5) 2,053,000 2,155,000 102,000 5.0
  Military personnel (11.7) 149,000 156,000 7,000 4.7
  Special personnel services payments (11.8) 1,711,000 1,794,000 83,000 4.9
Total Personnel Compensation (11.9) 66,917,000 70,203,000 3,286,000 4.9
Civilian personnel benefits (12.1) 16,578,000 17,394,000 816,000 4.9
Military personnel benefits (12.2) 124,000 130,000 6,000 4.8
Benefits to former personnel (13.0) 0 0 0 0.0
Subtotal, Pay Costs 83,619,000 87,727,000 4,108,000 4.9
Travel (21.0) 964,000 948,000 (16,000) -1.7
Transportation of things (22.0) 124,000 122,000 (2,000) -1.6
Rental payments to others (23.2) 71,000 71,000 0 0.0
Communications, utilities and   miscellaneous charges (23.3) 1,018,000 1,016,000 (2,000) -0.2
Printing and reproduction (24.0) 107,000 105,000 (2,000) -1.9
Other Contractual Services:  
  Advisory and assistance services (25.1) 51,653,000 51,565,000 (88,000) -0.2
  Other services (25.2) 44,635,000 44,603,000 (32,000) -0.1
  Purchases from government accounts (25.3) 46,325,000 46,424,000 99,000 0.2
  Operation and maintenance of facilities (25.4) 5,189,000 5,177,000 (12,000) -0.2
  Operation and maintenance of equipment (25.7) 9,657,000 9,653,000 (4,000) 0.0
  Subsistence and support of persons (25.8) 0 0 0 0.0
Subtotal Other Contractual Services 157,459,000 157,422,000 (37,000) 0.0
Supplies and materials (26.0) 2,512,000 2,489,000 (23,000) -0.9
Subtotal, Non-Pay Costs 162,255,000 162,173,000 (82,000) -0.1
Total, Administrative Costs 245,874,000 249,900,000 4,026,000 1.6

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Authorizing legislation

  PHS Act/ Other Citation U.S. Code Citation 2009 Amount Authorized FY 2009 Estimate 2010 Amount Authorized FY 2010 President's Budget
Research and Investigation Section 301 42§241 Indefinite $330,771,000 Indefinite 334,347,000
  Section 402(a) 42§281 Indefinite Indefinite
National Library of Medicine
Total, Budget Authority 330,771,000   334,347,000

 

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Appropriations history

Fiscal Year Budget Estimate
to Congress		 House Allowance Senate Allowance Appropriation
2001 230,135,000 2/ 256,281,000 256,953,000 246,801,000
Rescission       (399,000)
2002 275,725,00 273,610,000 281,581,000 277,658,000
Rescission       (1,567,000)
2003 313,534,000 313,534,000 331,443,000 302,099,000
Rescission       (1,964,000)
2004 315,401,000 315,401,000 319,396,000 311,635,000
Rescission       (2,520,000)
2005 316,947,000 316,947,000 316,900,000 317,947,000
Rescission       (2,801,000)
2006 318,091,000 318,091,000 327,247,000 318,091,000
Rescission       (3,181,000)
2007 313,269,000 313,269,000 315,294,000 320,850,000
Rescission       0
2008 312,562,000 325,484,000 327,817,000 326,669,000
Rescission       (5,707,000)
Supplemental       1,705,000
2009 323,046,000 331,847,000 329,996,000 330,771,000
Rescission       0
2010 334,347,000      

1/ Reflects enacted supplementals, recisions, and reappropriations.

2/ Excludes funds for HIV/AIDS research activities consolidated in the NIH Office of AIDS Research.

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Detail of full-time equivalent employment (FTE)

OFFICE/DIVISION FY 2008 Actual FY 2009 Estimate FY 2010
President's Budget
Division of Library Operations 315 324 331
Lister Hill National Center for Biomedical Communications 68 70 72
National Center for Biotechnology Information 196 201 206
Division of Specialized Information Services 37 38 39
Office of the Director/Administration 68 83 83
Division of Extramural Programs 15 15 15
Total 699 731 746

Includes FTEs which are reimbursed from the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research

FTEs supported by funds from Cooperative Research and Development Agreements

Fiscal Year

Average GM/GS Grade
2006 10.9
2007 10.9
2008 10.9
2009 10.9
2010 10.9

 

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Detail of positions

GRADE FY 2008
Actual		 FY 2009
Estimate		 FY 2010
President's Budget
Total, ES Positions 4 5 5
Total, ES Salary 669,764 889,110 944,235
GM/GS-15 39 39 39
GM/GS-14 41 41 41
GM/GS-13 125 142 150
GS-12 133 140 147
GS-11 30 36 36
GS-10 1 1 1
GS-9 34 34 34
GS-8 59 59 59
GS-7 36 36 36
GS-6 6 6 6
GS-5 4 4 4
GS-4 10 10 10
GS-3 12 12 12
GS-2 7 7 7
GS-1 2 2 2
 Subtotal 539 569 584
Grades established by Act of July 1, 1944 (42 U.S.C. 207):      
Assistant Surgeon General      
Director Grade      
Senior Grade      
Full Grade 1 1 1
Senior Assistant Grade      
Assistant Grade      
 Subtotal 1 1 1
Ungraded 216 217 217
Total permanent positions 521 553 568
Total positions, end of year 760 792 807
Total full-time equivalent (FTE) employment, end of year 699 731 746
Average ES salary 167,441 177,822 188,847
Average GM/GS grade 10.9 10.9 10.9
Average GM/GS salary 81,054 84,870 87,157

Includes FTEs which are reimbursed from the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research

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New positions requested

  FY 2010
Grade		 FY 2010
Number		 FY 2010
Annual Salary
Technical Information Specialist GS-13 8 $86,927
Technical Information Specialist GS-12 7 $85,281
Total Requested   15  

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Last Reviewed: October 7, 2024