National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) is part of the United States National Institutes of Health, which in turn is part of the Department of Health and Human Services. NIDDK is approximately the fifth-largest of the 27 NIH institutes. The institute's mission is to support research, training, and communication with the public in the topic areas of "diabetes and other endocrine and metabolic diseases; digestive diseases, nutritional disorders, and obesity; and kidney, urologic, and hematologic diseases". As of 2021, the Director of the institute is Griffin P. Rodgers, who assumed the position on an acting basis in 2006 and on a permanent basis in 2007. Mission The mission of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) is to conduct and support medical research and research training and to disseminate science-based information on diabetes and other endocrine and metabolic diseases; digestive diseases, nutritional disorders, and obesity; and kidney, urological, and hematologic diseases, to improve people's health and quality of life. History The institute that would become NIDDK was established in 1947 as the Experimental Biology and Medicine Institute, subsequently incorporated in 1950 by President Harry S Truman into the National Institute of Arthritis and Metabolic Diseases. The name of the institute was changed in 1972 to National Institute of Arthritis, Metabolism, and Digestive Diseases, again in 1981 to National Institute of Arthritis, Diabetes, and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, and to its present name in 1986 following the creation of a separate National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS). Past directors Directors from 1950 - present