National Human Genome Research Institute

The National Human Genome Research Institute, a sub-agency of the Department of Health and Human Services National Institutes of Health, funds and contracts for genomics research, infrastructure, and scientific services that advance understanding of the human genome and its applications to health and disease. NHGRI operates both as a grant-making research funder and as a contracting entity procuring scientific services, equipment, and staffing support directly tied to its research mission.

NHGRI awarded 5,118 federal contracts totaling $393.2 million in combined potential value since 2003, with $335.3 million obligated to date. Contract activity has declined modestly over the past five years: 290 awards in 2022, 247 in 2023, 252 in 2024, 148 in 2025, and 120 year-to-date in 2026. The most recent recorded contract award date is December 27, 2026. Among the 878 distinct prime contractors awarded over the portfolio lifetime, contract competition is highly fragmented. Over the last five years, Contemporaries, Inc. leads by award count with 86 awards and $6.6 million combined potential value, followed by Illumina, Inc. with 63 awards and $7.7 million combined potential value. When ranked by combined potential value, The Johns Hopkins University holds the top position at $26.7 million across 22 awards. The top five by-award-count primes account for 22 percent of recent awards, while the top five by-value primes account for only 12 percent of combined potential value, indicating that contract volume is distributed widely across the vendor base. Nearly all contract awards—98 percent—carry no set-aside designation; small-business set-asides total 2 percent of awards, with 8(a) sole-source, competitive 8(a), woman-owned small business, and other designated categories each representing fewer than one percent of awards.

NHGRI obligated $7.29 billion in federal grant dollars across 1,715 grant awards since 1992, with combined federal and non-federal dollars totaling $7.74 billion. Grant activity shows a declining trend: 166 awards in 2023, 154 in 2024, 81 in 2025, 70 in 2026, and 3 awards recorded in 2027. The most recent recorded grant award date is February 10, 2027. Grant funding is highly fragmented across 342 distinct recipients. Over the last five years, University of Washington leads by award count with 25 awards and $43.1 million in federal dollars obligated, followed by The Leland Stanford Junior University with 20 awards and $38.5 million and The Johns Hopkins University with 20 awards and $25.9 million. By federal dollars obligated, University of Washington again ranks first at $43.1 million, with Vanderbilt University Medical Center second at $42.1 million and Columbia University third at $41.6 million. The top five recipients by award count and by federal dollars each account for only 15 percent and 3 percent of their respective measures, reflecting a highly distributed funding landscape across academic and research institutions. Grants are predominantly Project Grants (83 percent of awards) with a smaller Cooperative Agreement component (17 percent).