National Institutes of Health (NIH)
The National Institutes of Health (NIH), an agency under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service, is the steward of medical and behavioral research for the nation. The NIH mission is science in the pursuit of fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to extend healthy life and reduce the burdens of illness and disability.
ORF Overview
The Office of Research Facilities Development and Operations (ORF) was created in April 2003 to provide a single point of accountability for all NIH facility activities, to streamline information flow, and to facilitate decision making on research and research support facility issues.
The primary responsibilities of the Office of Research Facilities are:
- Planning, developing, and managing NIH owned and leased facilities;
- Assisting the NIH Director with the formulation and execution of the Buildings and Facilities appropriation;
- Developing and maintaining policies and standards governing the development and use of real property;
- Planning and directing facilities-related service;
- Protecting and enhancing the NIH environment;
- Providing centralized acquisition services for architecture, engineering, and construction contracting, as well as real property purchase and lease activities.
The Office of Research Facilities is comprised of Office of the Director (301-594-0999) and six functional divisions. Dan Wheeland is the Director.
Division of Budget and Financial Management (DBFM)
Director, Victoria Davis (301-594-0999)
- Advises the ORF director and provides financial analysis
- Serves as principal branch for advice to all other ORF divisions
- ORF Annual Operating Budget; Development and Execution
- Authority on all aspects of financial management and provides principal technical advice
- Process and approves requisitions and collects fees
- Business Support, processes and approves work requests
- Works closely with the NIH Office of Financial Management
Division of Facilities Planning (DFP)
Director, Ricardo Herring (301-402-2048)
- Master and facilities planning
- Space allocation planning and management
- B&F budget plan formulation
- Real property and census data systems management
- Agency and community planning coordination
- Transportation and environmental planning
Division of Property Management (DPM)
Director, Robert McDonald (301-496-6186)
- Safe and efficient operation of NIH leased and owned real property
- Comprehensive facility management program
- Predictive, preventive, and emergency maintenance program
- Construction management program to support alterations, renovations, and repairs
- Provision of utilities to NIH owned facilities
Office of Acquisitions, ORF (OA-ORF)
Director, Sharon Bruce (301-402-0878)
- Architecture, engineering, construction contracts
- Real property purchase, disposition, and leasing
- Small purchases
Division of Technical Resources (DTR)
Director, Farhad Memarzadeh (301-496-8746)
DTR provides technical support to the ORF and various NIH institutes through a host of services that include:
- Providing comprehensive review and oversight of design and construction documents for NIH intramural and extramural Biosafety Level (BSL)-2, BSL-3 and BSL-4 biomedical research and animal research facilities and numerous NIH grant projects.
- Ensuring that NIH facility design and construction projects conform to applicable regulations, codes and standards, policies and guidelines.
- Developing and maintaining the NIH Design Requirements Manual (DRM) which is one of the only detailed design requirements and guidance manuals for biomedical research laboratory and animal research facilities in the U.S.
- Providing technical training in compliance with IACET professional development criteria.
- Conducting scientific studies and research to resolving technical issues of an unusual scope and difficulty to advance emerging scientific technologies used in the design of federal biomedical research facilities. The results of many of the studies conducted by DTR have been cited and, in many cases, adopted as national and international standards for biomedical labs and healthcare facilities.
Division of Environmental Protection (DEP)
Director, William (Kenny) Floyd (301-496-3537)
- Environmental protection
- Pollution control
- Waste management and resource conservation
- Environmental assessments
Publications
- NIH Biomedical and Animal Research Facilities Design Policies and Guidelines—The goal of the NIH Biomedical and Animal Research Facilities Design Policies and Guidelines is to ensure the quality of design and construction of NIH state-of-the-art facilities that are vital to the health care of all Americans. This document establishes policy, design standards, and technical criteria for use in programming, designing, and constructing new buildings, and major and minor alterations for the NIH.
- Bioenvironmental Studies—The Office of Research Facilities collaborates on bioenvironmental research to improve indoor air quality and save energy in biomedical laboratories and animal research facilities. The Principal Investigator for Research Facilities is Farhad Memarzadeh. The results of these studies have been cited and, in many cases, adopted as national and international standards for labs and hospitals.
- NIH Waste Disposal Guide—This Guide provides information on the way NIH handles recycling and disposal of different types of waste including general, chemical, multihazardous, radioactive, and medical pathological waste.