The National Institutes of Health is rolling out a new version of its website that shifts focus away from individual institutes and centers toward eight thematic hubs covering health, research, data, clinical studies, rare diseases, technology, cancer, and grants. The beta version soft-launched this week, though some functions, including search, are not yet operational. Agency officials say existing NIH websites will stay available during the transition and will be sunset on a rolling basis as content is verified and redirects are put in place.
The overhaul comes after the NIH's digital footprint ballooned to more than 700 separate websites, often with disconnected backend systems and duplicated information. The site's shortcomings became especially visible during the Covid-19 pandemic, when the public struggled to find guidance. A previous consolidation plan, developed in 2022, was scrapped after the Trump administration cut hundreds of communications staffers, leaving millions of webpages effectively frozen for nearly 18 months.
The remaining communications team developed a data-driven process to understand how people reach NIH websites and where they get stuck, according to Amanda Fine, NIH deputy director for public affairs. Content on the new site is drawn from existing NIH health information. The goal, Fine said, is to make trusted NIH information across the agency easier and faster to find. Science communication researchers welcomed the move, with one calling the old site so difficult to navigate that finding anything required "the skills of an Egyptologist."