# NIAID The **National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases** is the institute within [[NIH]] responsible for research on infectious and immune-mediated disease — the country's principal funder of work on emerging pathogens, vaccines and immunology. It is the institute [[Anthony Fauci]] directed from 1984 to 2022, which is why it carries more political weight in this vault than its budget alone would suggest. Its biodefense portfolio covers vaccines and treatments for weaponized pathogens — anthrax, smallpox, plague — and medical countermeasures against nerve agents and radiation exposure. That portfolio is the subject of the September 2026 agreement transferring work and potentially up to **$2 billion** to the [[Department of Defense]]; see [[NIH]] for the full account. Under the second Trump administration, eight of the institute's ten senior officials have been removed, and *Nature* reported in February 2026 that staff were instructed to remove "biodefense" and "pandemic preparedness" from the institute's website. > [!note] Stub — fill out > To expand: founding lineage (1948, from the Rocky Mountain Laboratory and the Division of Infectious Diseases), the AIDS-era expansion under Fauci, the current budget and division structure, and the gain-of-function and EcoHealth Alliance controversies the vault tracks elsewhere. ## See Also - [[NIH]] — parent agency, and where the 2026 Pentagon agreement is documented - [[Anthony Fauci]] · [[Jay Bhattacharya]] - [[Department of Defense]] · [[Department of Health and Human Services]] - [[COVID Response Politicization]]