About NIAMS

The mission of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases is to support research into the causes, treatment, and prevention of arthritis and musculoskeletal and skin diseases, the training of basic and clinical scientists to carry out this research, and the dissemination of information on research progress in these diseases. 

For additional information about areas of interest to NIAMS, please visit the NIAMS Strategic Plan at https://www.niams.nih.gov/about-niams/strategic-plan-fiscal-years-2020-2024. 

For budgetary, administrative, or programmatic reasons, NIAMS may decide not to fund an application or may decrease the length of an award and/or the budget recommended by a review committee. Total funding support (direct costs, indirect costs, fees) normally may not exceed the amounts defined by the SBA.

For topics listed in the SBA-Approved NIH Waiver Topics,  the NIAMS does not apply these topics to the Omnibus Program Announcements. The NIAMS only applies the waiver topics to special Funding Opportunity Announcements that specifically allow higher budgets than those in the Omnibus Program Announcements. When the waiver topics are applied, NIAMS generally will not fund Phase I applications greater than $300,000 total costs or project periods greater than 2 years; or Phase II applications greater than $2,000,000 total costs or project periods greater than 3 years. Applicants considering a requested budget greater than these limits are strongly encouraged to contact program staff before submitting an application. 

It is not the intent of NIAMS to support clinical trials through the SBIR/STTR mechanism. Applicants who wish to submit clinical trials applications to the NIAMS are encouraged to utilize one of the NIAMS NOFOs listed HERE.