NIH Director Addresses Osteopathic Research During Senate Hearing
Published February 09, 2026
By AACOM Government Relations
Federal Policy OME Advocate Osteopathic Representation Osteopathic Research
The Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee held a hearing on National Institutes of Health (NIH) modernization with NIH director Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD, on February 3, 2026. During the hearing, Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) posed a question to Dr. Bhattacharya about the research funding disparity between osteopathic medical schools and allopathic schools.
Senator Tuberville noted that Alabama has two osteopathic medical schools but that DO institutions receive only about 0.1 percent of NIH funding compared to roughly 40 percent for MD-granting schools. Dr. Bhattacharya acknowledged NIH funding is highly concentrated, citing that 0.4 percent of institutions receive 20 percent of extramural research funding. Importantly, he said he is considering ways to broaden NIH investments to include more institutions and ideas. For more information, view AACOM’s analysis.
