The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), is one of the 27 institutes and centres which comprise the United State’s National Institutes of Health. It conducts and supports basic and applied research to better understand, treat, and ultimately prevent infectious, immunologic, and allergic diseases.
In January 2026, it announced a new vision and move away from its previous focus on three areas: HIV, biodefence/pandemic preparedness, and all other immunological and infectious diseases, towards a two pillar approach to infectious diseases and immunology – “(1) to address the most impactful infectious diseases that Americans currently face with evidence from gold standard science; and (2) to support innovative research to address fundamental studies in immunology and allergic and autoimmune diseases to improve patient outcomes.”
The second strategic aim is of particular relevance to ME/CFS in that the NIAID acknowledges that it must support basic, applied, and clinical immunology research to address the ever-increasing chronic diseases which affect the nation’s populace. These include not only the short and long-term effects of infections, allergies, and autoimmunity, but also the immunopathology underlying common chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, and many other chronic diseases.
NIAID will foster research to better understand long-term post-infectious and non-infectious inflammatory syndromes, such as long COVID, chronic Lyme disease, myalgic encephalitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, and adverse events following vaccination. This work will also extend to advancing scientific evidence on possible infectious triggers or contributors to other chronic diseases, such as Type 1 diabetes mellitus and multiple sclerosis. Such research supporting immunology and collaboration across institutes will dramatically improve our scientific understanding of all chronic diseases.
The new focus will see the NIAID identify the causes of allergic and autoimmune diseases, beginning in childhood and throughout life, focusing on prevention whilst continuing research on treatment and management of these diseases. This new focus will also identify ways to reduce the risk of disease development, and prevalence whilst acknowledging that further research will be necessary to understand the critical role played by the human microbiome in the development and maintenance of the immune system and the consequences of microbiome alteration in health and disease. A better understanding of the complexities of immune responses will also be needed to develop a new generation of safer and more effective therapeutics and vaccines.
