The National Institutes of Health (NIH), a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the nation’s medical research agency — making important discoveries that improve health and save lives.  NIH’s mission is to seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability.

The National Institute on Aging (NIA), one of the 27 Institutes and Centers of NIH, leads a broad scientific effort to understand the nature of aging and to extend the healthy, active years of life. NIA is the primary Federal agency supporting and conducting Alzheimer's disease research.

The Division of Behavioral and Social Research (BSR) of NIA supports social, behavioral, psychological, and economic research and training on the processes of aging at the individual and societal levels. BSR fosters cross-disciplinary research, from genetics to cross-national comparative research, and at stages from basic through translational.