W h a t Is N IG M S ?
T h e N atio n al In stitu te o f G en eral M ed ical Scien ces
(N IG M S) su p p o rts b asic b io m ed ical research o n
gen es, p ro tein s, an d cells. It also fu n d s stu d ies o n
fu n d am en tal p rocesses su ch as h ow cells com m u -
n icate, h o w o u r b o d ies u se en ergy, an d h o w w e
resp o n d to m ed icin es. T h e resu lts o f th is research
in crease o u r u n d erstan d in g o f life an d lay th e
fo u n d atio n fo r ad van ces in th e d iagn o sis, treatm en t,
a n d p r e v e n t i o n o f d i s e a s e . T h e I n s t i t u t e \u2019s r e s e a r c h
train in g program s produ ce th e n ext gen eration of
biom ed ical scien tists, an d N IG M S h as p rogram s to
en co u rage m in o rities u n d errep resen ted in b io m ed ical
an d behavioral scien ce to pursue research careers.
N IG M S su p p o rted th e research o f m o st o f th e
scien tists m en tio n ed in th is b o o klet.