CRISPR and gene editing — NIH Funding Overview
Reviewed by Dr. Meng ZhaoLast reviewed June 9, 2026Data refreshed September 5, 2026Editorial standards
CRISPR-based gene editing is one of the fastest-growing categories of NIH investment, spanning therapeutic editing, base editing, prime editing, epigenome editing, and high-throughput screens. Funding cuts across NHGRI, NIAID, NCI, NHLBI, NIDDK, and NICHD depending on disease focus.
Funding snapshot
Award data on this page reflects a snapshot of NIH RePORTER records last refreshed on September 5, 2026. For live numbers, use the interactive trends view.
Why this matters now
The first FDA-approved CRISPR therapeutic for sickle cell disease (Casgevy, 2023) shifted CRISPR from a research tool to a clinical platform, expanding NIH investment in delivery, off-target characterization, and regulatory science. The Somatic Cell Genome Editing program is a cross-NIH initiative supporting this transition.
How NIH funds this area
CRISPR awards span R01 mechanism-of-action studies, U01/U19 program projects, R21 exploratory grants, and DP2 high-risk awards from the Common Fund. Activity codes vary by institute. The data below reflects awards across all NIH ICs that mention CRISPR in title, abstract, or terms.
How to use this funding brief
Use this page to separate technique-led genome-editing opportunities from disease-led applications. If delivery, safety, or editor performance is the central innovation, inspect cross-NIH and Common Fund programs; if the disease question leads, compare the relevant disease institute first.
Official source: NIH Common Fund: Somatic Cell Genome Editing
Search tactics
- Search specific systems like "Cas9", "Cas12", "base editor", "prime editor" for technique-focused research.
- For disease-targeted programs, combine CRISPR with disease keywords (e.g., search both terms separately for cross-reference).
- NHGRI and NIAID consistently appear among top funders for tool development; NCI and NHLBI for therapeutic applications.
What the data shows
- Funding peaked in FY2025 at $2.4B. The FY2025 total of $2.4B is +22% versus FY2021.
- The number of awards fell about 8% in FY2025 even as total dollars grew — funding is concentrating in fewer, larger awards.
- About 80% of FY2026 dollars so far are non-Type-1 award actions, including competing renewals, supplements, non-competing continuations, and institutional changes. This is a descriptive record mix, not a measure of renewal activity alone.
- The average FY2025 award was $572K, and R01 was the most common mechanism in the recent window.
Editorial read
The CRISPR portfolio shows a classic maturing-field pattern: FY2025 funding reached a record while the award count fell about 8% from FY2024. Dollars are concentrating into fewer, larger projects — delivery platforms, clinical translation, and R35-style program awards — rather than first-generation editing R01s. A proposal that reads as an incremental editing application now competes against that consolidation, which favors framing the work around delivery, safety, or a hard disease problem.
Yearly NIH Awards for CRISPR and gene editing
Counts and total funding per fiscal year from NIH RePORTER. Recent fiscal years may understate final totals because of reporting lag.
| Fiscal Year | Project Count | Total Funding | Avg Award |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2021 | 4,256 | $1,991,599,712 | $467,951 |
| FY2022 | 4,542 | $2,155,606,126 | $474,594 |
| FY2023 | 4,578 | $2,233,232,649 | $487,818 |
| FY2024 | 4,619 | $2,320,041,008 | $502,282 |
| FY2025 | 4,262 | $2,437,830,436 | $571,992 |
| FY2026 | 3,191 | $1,710,748,734 | $536,117 |
Open the full interactive trends view for CRISPR and gene editing →
Top NIH Institutes (last 90 days)
Which NIH institutes funded the most CRISPR projects in the most recent 90-day window.
| Institute | Awards (90d) | Funding (90d) |
|---|---|---|
| NIH | 495 | $297,740,308 |
| VA | 5 | $0 |
Common Activity Codes (last 90 days)
Which grant mechanisms (R01, R21, U01, P30, etc.) appeared most often for CRISPR in the recent period.
Most Active Institutions (last 90 days)
Universities and research organizations with the most CRISPR awards in the most recent 90-day window.
- STANFORD UNIVERSITY — 19 awards
- UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO — 18 awards
- UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO — 13 awards
- UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA — 12 awards
- WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY — 11 awards
- JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY — 11 awards
- BOSTON CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL — 10 awards
- UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR — 10 awards
Recently Awarded CRISPR and gene editing Grants
Twelve most recent awards mentioning CRISPR, drawn from NIH RePORTER. Click through to Find PIs for the full investigator search.
Development of CRISPR/Cas9-based exon-skipping strategies for the treatment of USH-associated deafness
5R01DC019404-04SUSAN BLANTON · UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, FL · $666,228 · awarded Aug 28, 2026 · R01Abstract: Usher syndrome (USH) is the most common form of inherited deaf-blindness, with a prevalence of 1/6.000. Inherited as an autosomal recessive trait, it affects about 15,000 people in the United States and is responsible for 6% of early childhood deafness. Usher syndrome is classified under three clinical subtypes (USH-1, -2 and -3) according to the…
Understanding Emerging artemisinin partner drug resistance in eastern Africa
5R01AI189911-02Michael Ferdig · UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME, IN · $726,365 · awarded Aug 28, 2026 · R01ABSTRACT Malaria remains a significant public health challenge, with 234 million cases and 593,000 deaths in Africa in 2021. The emergence of partial resistance to artemisinin in Africa will likely worsen this situation leading to failure to control the parasite with the main frontline drugs artemisinin combination therapies. Arteminsinin resistance also…
MorPhiC Data Resource and Administrative Coordinating Center
3U24HG012674-05S1Stephan Schurer · UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI SCHOOL OF MEDICINE, FL · $398,825 · awarded Aug 28, 2026 · U24PROJECT SUMMARY Since the successful conclusion of the Human Genome Project (HGP), significant progress has been made towards the NHGRI strategic vision to characterize the biological function(s) of every human gene. A systematic catalogue of molecular and cellular phenotypic effects of gene knockouts for all human genes in complex cell- based model systems…
Supplement: Developmental programming of stress-sensitive neural circuits underlying social behavior
3R01MH135937-03S1BRIAN TRAINOR · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT DAVIS, CA · $39,303 · awarded Aug 27, 2026 · R01Project summary Androgens alter brain structure and function during adolescence but how this transformation impacts behavior is poorly understood. The parent award tests the hypothesis that the activation of androgen receptors (AR) during puberty permanently programs neural circuits of social behavior to be less sensitive to social stress. Our studies use…
Decoding the Heterogeneity in Chemo-Immunomodulation to Unlock the Potential of Chemoimmunotherapy in Metastatic Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
4DP5OD036134-04Mohammed Gbadamosi · UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA, FL · $762,500 · awarded Aug 27, 2026 · DP5PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is a highly heterogeneous and aggressive subtype of breast cancer characterized by the highest potential for metastasis and thus the worst clinical outcomes of all breast cancer subtypes. The outcome in metastatic TNBC (mTNBC) is particularly poor with a median overall survival time of < 16…
Leveraging biodiversity and utilizing genetic engineering to expand the structure and function of silk fibroin biopolymers for biomedical applications
5R35GM147041-05Whitney Stoppel · UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA, FL · $361,340 · awarded Aug 27, 2026 · R35Project Summary Materials for applications in healthcare and medicine usually come from two main groups (a) synthetic polymers specifically designed to achieve a certain goal or (b) naturally derived biopolymers that are leveraged in their native or slightly modified state for a specific goal. The advantage of being a synthetic chemist is that technically,…
Mouse models for metabolic co-morbidities in persons living with HIV
1R21DK146753-01A1Sean Hartig · BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE, TX · $240,000 · awarded Aug 27, 2026 · R21ABSTRACT HIV infection and anti-retroviral therapy (ART) are associated with multiple chronic metabolic complications that occur more frequently and at earlier onset than people without HIV, including obesity, cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, osteoporosis, cancers, frailty, and cognitive decline that significantly diminish their quality of…
Severe Chronic Neutropenia International Registry
5R24AI162637-05Akiko Shimamura · BOSTON CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL, MA · $1,031,877 · awarded Aug 27, 2026 · R24Project Summary / Abstract Severe chronic neutropenia (SCN) is an immunodeficiency that leads to severe, often life-threatening, infections in patients with both congenital and acquired forms of neutropenia. Despite granulocyte colony- stimulating factor therapy, patients remain at long term, often life-long, risk of serious infections and additional…
Breaching the Tumor-Immune Mechanical Barrier for Optimal Antitumor Immunity
5R00CA286969-04BOGANG WU · MAYO CLINIC ARIZONA, AZ · $249,000 · awarded Aug 27, 2026 · R00Project Summary/Abstract Tumor immune exclusion predicts poor anticancer therapeutic responses and patient outcomes. The mechanical barrier built by intercellular junction connections and extracellular matrix maintains immune exclusion in immune- privileged organs. How such barriers dictate immune infiltration in cancer remains largely unknown. My prior…
AAV gene therapy to restore fertility in mammalian Sertoli cell dysfunction models
6F31HD114406-04Georgia Rae Atkins · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH, PA · $50,114 · awarded Aug 27, 2026 · F31ABSTRACT: Infertility impacts 48 million couples worldwide and 50% of cases are due to a male factor. Non-obstructive azoospermia (NOA) is the absence of sperm due to spermatogenic failure. Some cases are due to known conditions (Klinefelter’s Syndrome, Y chromosome microdeletions, and hypogonadism) but many cases are idiopathic (unexplained). Recent…
CANCAN-HARVARDTHCHAN
3OT2CA278654-01S3Sheng Hui · HARVARD UNIVERSITY D/B/A HARVARD SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, MA · $307,052 · awarded Aug 27, 2026 · OT2Background Cancer cachexia (CC) is a systemic, metabolic wasting syndrome featuring body weight loss due to skeletal muscle and adipose tissue wasting. CC is suffered by ~80% of cancer patients that causes reduced performance status, intolerance to chemotherapy, and increased mortality. This debilitating condition is poorly understood and has no effective…
Dissecting the Role of Inherited Non-Coding Variants in the Enhancer Architecture of Breast Cancer
1R01CA316861-01Hector Franco · COMPREHENSIVE CANCER CENTER/ UNIV/PR, PR · $591,360 · awarded Aug 27, 2026 · R01Project Summary Breast cancer is the most frequently diagnosed cancer among women and a major contributor to global cancer mortality, with persistent disparities in incidence and outcomes across populations. Although social and environmental factors contribute to these inequities, inherited genetic variation also shapes individual and population-specific…
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