Fiscal Year 2023 NIH HIV/AIDS Professional Judgment Budget

Cross-posted from NIH Office of AIDS Research, Director’s Corner

On June 10, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of AIDS Research (OAR) released the Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 NIH HIV/AIDS Professional Judgment Budget, which highlights the theme “Focus on the Future.”

Each year, as required by the NIH Revitalization Act of 1993, the NIH OAR prepares a Professional Judgment Budget to highlight accomplishments in HIV and AIDS research during the prior year, identify opportunities for further investment, and estimate additional funds needed to advance priority areas of HIV and AIDS science, as defined in the NIH Strategic Plan for HIV and HIV-Related Research.

Research on HIV and AIDS has significantly improved the lives of people who have or are at risk for HIV; however, the journey is not over. Additional research investments are essential to understand HIV transmission, disease progression, and health outcomes in order to develop innovative technologies and methodologies that combine discoveries across different areas of science.

To build on recent developments, as well as address current and emerging needs in the next year, the FY 2023 Professional Judgment Budget estimates a need for $639 million in additional funds, a 20 percent increase in the HIV research investment over the FY 2022 enacted level. The increase in funding will allow the NIH to catalyze key areas, including—

• Expand basic research in biomedical, behavioral, and social sciences;
• Address leading co-occurring conditions;
• Develop transformative technologies, methodologies, and implementation approaches;
• Enhance diversity and strengthening the capacity of the HIV research workforce;
• Provide better quality of life for people with HIV who are aging; and
• Reduce future health care costs.

The FY 2023 Professional Judgment Budget builds on a critical HIV and AIDS research investment made by President Biden earlier this year: signing the FY 2022 appropriations bill yielded the largest increase for HIV and AIDS research since FY 2014. The legislation provides the NIH OAR with $3.194 billion to distribute across the NIH Institutes, Centers, and Offices to support HIV and AIDS research. This investment represents an increase of $104 million (3.4 percent) over the FY 2021 level, and 13.4 percent of the estimated $775 million increase requested in the FY 2022 NIH HIV/AIDS Professional Judgment Budget (PDF 2.1 MB).

Mr. Harold Phillips, Director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy, acknowledged the significance of this increase and noted, “We are so pleased that additional funding has been appropriated to the NIH to support research that aligns with the goals of the National HIV/AIDS Strategy (NHAS). This funding will facilitate efforts to end the HIV epidemic.”

The NIH OAR is committed to working with partners to advance HIV research. These partnerships will accelerate the implementation of the NHAS and the Ending the HIV Epidemic in the U.S. (EHE) initiative to improve outcomes for all people with HIV and to end the HIV epidemic in the United States and around the world.

I encourage you to read the FY 2023 NIH HIV/AIDS Professional Judgment Budget to learn more.

Maureen M. Goodenow, Ph.D.
Associate Director for AIDS Research and
Director, Office of AIDS Research
National Institutes of Health