NIMHD Loan Repayment Program (LRP)

NIMHD participates in the NIH Extramural Loan Repayment Program (LRP), one of two programs established by Congress and designed to recruit and retain highly qualified health professionals into biomedical, behavioral, and clinical research careers. These programs invest in early-stage investigators with financial supports for their educational debt, so they can continue working on cutting edge research and health discoveries as they pursue becoming an independent NIH investigator.

The LRP repays up to $50,000 per year of an investigator’s eligible educational debt. Typically, loans from college-, graduate-, and doctorate-level education are eligible for repayment.

During the program, participants must spend at least 50% of their time, or 20 hours per week, engaged in research at a domestic, nonprofit, or government entity. New Extramural LRP awards are for two years. Extramural LRP renewal awards can be for one or two years.

Since its inception, the NIMHD LRP has repaid the educational loans of more than 2,200 doctorate-level health professionals in a range of disciplines, including epidemiology, psychology, social science, medicine, public health, and health policy. LRP recipients have conducted research on a wide variety of health conditions, including cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, infant mortality, asthma, obesity, and kidney disease. Their investigations have examined biological, lifestyle, environmental, social, economic, cultural, and family influences on health disparities and interventions to address them.

Citizenship: Applicants must be a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, or permanent resident of the U.S. by the LRP award start date.

Qualifying Degree: Possess an M.D., Ph.D., Dr.P.H., Pharm.D., Psy.D., D.O., D.D.S., D.M.D., D.P.M., D.C., N.D., O.D., D.V.M., or equivalent doctoral degree from an accredited institution. 

Employment: Applicants must be employed by and conduct qualifying research supported by a domestic nonprofit foundation (e.g., university), professional nonprofit association or other nonprofit institution, or a U.S. government agency (federal, state, or local).

Part-time federal employees (< 50%) who are (a) not conducting research as a federal employee, and (b) whose funding source is from a domestic nonprofit source, are eligible to apply for the LRP if they meet all other eligibility requirements.

Qualifying educational debt: Applicants must have total qualifying educational debt equal to or in excess of 20% of their institutional annual base salary at the time of the award. Institutional annual base salary is the annual amount the organization pays for the individual's appointment, whether the time is spent on research, teaching, patient care, or other activities. Institutional annual base salary excludes any income that an applicant may earn outside of the duties of the organization. This criterion is not applicable to applicants for a renewal award.

See full details on eligibility on the NIH LRP website.

Prepare to Apply

Our staff is happy to provide guidance that helps applicants position their submissions to be as competitive as possible for NIMHD LRP funding.

LRP office hours provide the opportunity for potential applicants to ask questions and receive feedback on the alignment and science of their concept from NIMHD staff. Following the steps below helps you prepare for a successful conversation about developing your career for future success as an NIH independent investigator.

1. Review the:
   • NIMHD LRP introduction
   • Current NIMHD notices of funding opportunity (NIMHD participates in 1 extramural LRP award)
   • Eligibility, FAQs, and tutorial videos
2. Ask yourself:
   • Does my concept align with NIMHD’s mission and research framework?
   • Are there other NIH Institutes and Centers (ICs) that may be a good fit for my research? If so, review their awards criteria.
3. Meet with your research mentor(s) and supervisor first:
   • Review your career training plan and other areas of opportunity for development as an NIH independent investigator.
   • Mentors are also welcome to join calls with NIMHD staff during office hours.
   • NIH LRP provides definitions for both mentor and research supervisor roles.
4. Update your career plan:
   • To align it with NIH’s awards and stages for becoming an established investigator.
5. If possible:
   • Before your meeting with NIMHD, email an abstract of up to 350 words.
   • NIMHD staff can provide feedback on the abstract, which should:
     1. Begin with a research question/focus
     2. Include 3 project aims
     3. Indicate which NIH-defined population(s) that experience health disparities your research will focus on.

How to Apply

The application period is annually from September 1 through the third Thursday in November.

Review the application process interactive roadmap.

Tips for completing a competitive LRP application

For additional assistance, call or email the LRP Information Center at 866-849-4047 or lrp@nih.gov.

LRP Online Application System (OAS)

Technical Assistance

Page updated July 17, 2026