National Jewish Health

National Jewish Health, a Denver-based nonprofit hospital and research center specializing in respiratory, immunological, and related disorders, operates as a prime recipient of federal research grants and a prime contractor for specialized laboratory testing services, with 75% of recent awards as prime work and 25% as subcontractor or sub-recipient roles. The organization competes entirely on a full-and-open basis with no set-aside designations across its federal footprint.

National Jewish Health's concrete federal capabilities center on three distinct service lines. First, the organization provides specialized diagnostic laboratory testing—mycobacterium and acid-fast bacilli testing, beryllium lymphocyte proliferation assays, and plasma complement component analysis—delivered to military and Veterans Affairs facilities. Second, it serves as prime recipient and research steward for large-scale genetic epidemiology studies, most significantly the Genetic Epidemiology of COPD (COPDGene) initiative, managing biospecimen collection, curation, repository stewardship, and longitudinal data oversight across multi-site cohorts. Third, National Jewish Health conducts fundamental and translational biomedical research in pulmonary disease, immune dysfunction, and occupational lung disease, with particular depth in T-cell and macrophage biology, lung fibrosis pathogenesis, beryllium-induced granulomatous disease, asthma endotypes, and viral-lung disease interactions. Representative prime work includes a $9.3 million delivery order from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) for COPDGene study data collection and biospecimen management (awarded August 2025), a $2.65 million Project Grant from the Defense Health Agency investigating burn-pit-related particulate matter and deployment-related lung disease (awarded June 2024), a $2.41 million NIEHS Project Grant on predictive models for beryllium sensitization and chronic beryllium disease (awarded September 2023), and a $776,394 NIAID Project Grant on prenatal programming of immune cells in asthma (awarded February 2026).

Customer concentration is dominated by the National Institutes of Health ecosystem. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute alone accounts for 136 awards with $138.1 million combined potential value, anchored by the COPDGene single-award IDV (ceiling $49.9 million through August 2028) and associated delivery orders. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Cancer Institute, and National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases collectively represent 79 awards focused on respiratory immunology, occupational and environmental health, and rare disease mechanisms. Veterans Affairs (VISN 4, VISN 8, VISN 19) places recurring small-volume orders for mycobacterium and AFB laboratory testing; the Defense Health Agency funds both contract laboratory testing (beryllium lymphocyte proliferation assays at Joint Base Pearl Harbor Hickam) and grant-funded research on occupational and deployment-related lung conditions. Together, NIH agencies represent approximately 66% of award count and 63% of combined potential value, with no single customer outside the federal health research ecosystem exceeding single-digit award volume.

National Jewish Health holds three active prime indefinite-delivery vehicles. The primary vehicle is the NHLBI COPDGene single-award IDV ($49.9 million ceiling through August 2028), under which four delivery orders totaling approximately $31.4 million have been issued for Task Area A (study data and biospecimen collection) and Task Area B (biospecimen and data repository stewardship). A second single-award IDC is held with Veterans Integrated Service Network 4 for mycobacterium laboratory testing (ceiling $179,584, effective June 2025 through June 2028). A third IDC with VISN 8 for acid-fast bacilli testing carries a ceiling of $132,615 through January 2027. These vehicles are low-value, routine diagnostic contracts; the COPDGene IDV represents the organization's only substantial federal vehicle position.

Activity has grown materially. Award volume rose from 22 in 2022 to 65 in 2024 (nearly threefold in two years), then moderated to 38 in 2025 and 29 in 2026 year-to-date. This trajectory reflects a federal research grant expansion cycle within NIH and DoD health research portfolios. Thirty-five awards (combined potential value $19.1 million) reach ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, creating a recompete exposure concentrated in small-value NIH project grants and VA/DoD laboratory service contracts.

National Jewish Health acts as a subcontractor and sub-recipient on university-led research consortia, research networks, and multi-site clinical studies. Named prime grantees include Northwestern University (The Neu-Lung Consortium on neutrophilic lung disease mechanisms), University of Pittsburgh (cystic fibrosis and nontuberculous mycobacterial research), Vanderbilt University Medical Center (pulmonary fibrosis disease progression), Duke University (airway epithelial beta-2 adrenergic signaling in asthma), University of Colorado (inflammatory response to implanted biomaterials, post-COVID care delivery, early-life atopy mechanisms), and The Regents of the University of California San Francisco (mucus plugging genetics in severe asthma). National Jewish Health also subcontracts to Triad National Security, LLC under the Los Alamos National Laboratory management and operation competition (awarded March 2025) for employee benefits, business insurance, and ancillary services. The sub-award footprint reflects the organization's integration into academic research networks and its role providing laboratory, clinical, and subject-recruitment infrastructure for NIH-funded multi-site studies.

National Jewish Health receives federal research grants across life sciences and health research programs: NHLBI Cardiovascular Diseases Research (CFDA 93.837), NIAID Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research (CFDA 93.855), NIEHS Environmental Health (CFDA 93.113), National Cancer Institute Cancer Biology Research (CFDA 93.396), National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (CFDA 93.846), National Institute on Aging, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Defense Health Agency Military Medical Research and Development (CFDA 12.420), and the Bureau of Primary Health Care. Recent grant work spans foundational immunology (T-cell dysfunction in myelodysplastic syndrome, NK cell exhaustion mechanisms, mast cell lineage commitment), disease mechanisms (tissue repair and fibrosis in lung injury, complement activation in beryllium disease, sarcoidosis progression and metabolomics), occupational and environmental health (burn-pit particulate exposure, wildfire smoke exposure in asthma), and clinical translation (tuberculosis drug efficacy, cystic fibrosis CFTR modulation, occupational health screening for radiation and beryllium exposure). Grant funding in 2024–2026 includes substantial awards from Army Medical Command ($2.65 million on burn-pit lung disease, $5.14 million on lung repair mechanisms), supporting the organization's role as a DoD health research partner alongside its civilian NIH portfolio.

National Jewish Health is a nonprofit hospital and research institution without equity ownership or SBA certifications; it operates as a tax-exempt corporate entity under Section 501(c)(3). The organization's federal posture is characterized by deep specialization in respiratory and immunological disease research, recurrent engagement with NIH intramural and extramural funding mechanisms, and established relationships with academic health centers and research consortia. Federal contract work is episodic and performance-based (laboratory testing on call orders), while grant work reflects sustained research programs spanning five-year project periods. Recompete risk is modest for the COPDGene vehicle (renewal expected 2028) but manageable given the organization's scientific standing in COPD epidemiology and genetics; small contract and grant awards complete frequently and have not historically posed existential risks to the organization's federal revenue profile.