New FY 2024 NIH Categorical Spending Data Available, Including an Updated Women’s Health Research Category to Improve Accuracy and Consistency

NIH recently updated its annual categorical information with actual spending data for fiscal year (FY) 2024. Available on the Research, Condition, and Disease Categorization (RCDC) page, you will find the annual support level for various research, condition, and disease categories. The data are based on grants, contracts, intramural projects, and other funding mechanisms used across NIH.

There were 215 public categories when RCDC information began being reported for FY 2008. In FY 2024, there are a total of 327 categories. The following new categories were added in FY 2024:

• Disability Research
• Palliative Care
• Primary Immunodeficiencies
• Psychosis
• Skin Cancer
• Women’s Health Research (now automated; see more below)
• Zika Virus

There were also seven existing categories that were renamed, including:

• Dental, Oral, and Craniofacial Disease (was Dental/Oral and Craniofacial Disease)
• Orthopoxviruses (was Small Pox)
• Pediatric - AIDS (was Pediatric AIDS)
• Vaccine Related - AIDS (was Vaccine Related (AIDS))
• Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) (was ALS)
• Colorectal Cancer (was Colo-Rectal Cancer)
• Pneumonia and Influenza (was Pneumonia & Influenza)

We also launched an additional resource that provides descriptions to clearly explain what areas of research are or are not included in the particular category. This resource builds on other features discussed earlier this year meant to help more quickly and easily find official NIH funding reports.

More on Automating the Women’s Health Research Category

NIH has moved from manual coding to automated coding for the RCDC Women’s Health Research category with this fiscal year reporting cycle. Automating this category further improves its accuracy and consistency in reporting and better distinguishes research focused on improving the health of women across the lifespan. NIH remains committed to advancing women’s health through robust, transparent, and accountable scientific investment. 

While most RCDC categories use an automated process to identify relevant applications, some have used a manual process until analyses can be completed to address their unique reporting requirements. An accompanying footnote on the RCDC categorical spending table identifies categories that are still manually coded. Because the manual process is less standardized, NIH shifted from manual to automated coding over time. Shifting to automated categories:

• Offers increased rigor, accuracy, and transparency by applying the same classification methodology across all projects
• Eliminates inconsistencies inherent with individual interpretation of coding standards.
• Allows for more consistent categorization across multiple NIH Institutes and Centers, and FYs.

The manual Women’s Health category encompassed:

• Funding for research aimed at improving women’s health
• Studies on conditions that predominantly or differently affect women but may not specifically focus on women’s health outcomes, as well as clinical trials with female participation – each of which led to imprecise reporting and overcounting of some projects
• Research related to pregnancy and breastfeeding

After conducting a thorough and thoughtful analysis with subject matter experts across NIH, the updated Women's Health Research category includes:

• Research on health issues affecting women across the lifespan (e.g. female-specific conditions and conditions that may present differently or disproportionately in women)
• Pregnancy and breastfeeding research, now with a greater focus on maternal health

The automated system ensures a more precise reflection of women’s health research efforts, supporting effective use of taxpayer dollars. That said, users may notice changes in the data for the Women’s Health Research category under the automated process. But importantly, only the reporting methodology has changed, and actual funding numbers remain the same. NIH remains committed to supporting women’s health research, and the change will ultimately enhance NIH’s ability to track progress of the NIH-Wide Strategic Plan for Research on the Health of Women. The shift simply provides a clearer and more accurate representation of NIH’s sustained investment in this critical area. 

Because the manual and automated figures are not comparable, the historical funding numbers for the previous manual Women’s Health category will no longer be collected or reported on the RCDC categorical spending page. These historical funding numbers are available upon request by contacting [email protected].