Opportunities Exist for the National Institutes of Health To Strengthen Controls in Place To Permit and Monitor Access to Its Sensitive Data

As part of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the largest public funder of biomedical research agency in the world, investing more than $30 billion in taxpayer dollars to achieve its mission. NIH's mission is to seek fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and the application of that knowledge to enhance health, lengthen life, and reduce illness and disability. OIG has identified risks related to the sharing of sensitive data.