GLP-1 and metabolic disease — NIH Funding Overview
Reviewed by Dr. Meng ZhaoLast reviewed June 9, 2026Data refreshed June 9, 2026Editorial standards
GLP-1 receptor research underlies the major class of incretin-based therapeutics for type 2 diabetes and obesity (semaglutide, tirzepatide, others). NIH funding spans the basic biology of incretin signaling, central-nervous-system effects, cardiovascular outcomes, and pharmacology of next-generation agents.
Funding snapshot
Award data on this page reflects a snapshot of NIH RePORTER records last refreshed on June 9, 2026. For live numbers, use the interactive trends view.
Why this matters now
The clinical and commercial success of GLP-1 agonists has reshaped diabetes and obesity research priorities. NIH portfolios now emphasize understanding why some patients respond and others do not, neuropsychiatric effects, long-term safety, and applications beyond metabolism — including addiction, neurodegeneration, and inflammation.
How NIH funds this area
NIDDK is the dominant funder; NHLBI funds cardiovascular outcomes; NIA funds aging-related applications; NIDA funds substance-use applications. The data below covers all NIH awards mentioning GLP-1 in any field.
How to use this funding brief
Use this page to test whether your question is centered on incretin biology, a metabolic indication, or a newer application such as cardiovascular, addiction, or neurodegeneration research. The leading institute and best comparison awards will differ across those use cases.
Official source: NIDDK: Diabetes and metabolic disease translational research
Search tactics
- Search "incretin", "semaglutide", or "tirzepatide" for compound-specific work.
- Combine with "obesity", "diabetes", or "cardiovascular" to filter by application area.
- GLP-1 work in addiction and neurodegeneration is growing — expect rising R01 counts in NIDA and NIA.
What the data shows
- Funding peaked in FY2025 at $161M. The FY2025 total of $161M is +75% versus FY2021.
- The number of awards rose about 29% in FY2025.
- About 75% of FY2026 dollars so far are renewals and continuations. Mid-year snapshots overweight renewals because non-competing continuations are issued early in the fiscal year, but the share still indicates how much of the portfolio is committed before new applications compete.
- The average FY2025 award was $570K, and R01 was the most common mechanism in the recent window.
Editorial read
This is the youngest portfolio we track: small in absolute terms but up roughly 75% from FY2021 to FY2025, with the lowest renewal share of any tracked topic in the current-year snapshot. A young portfolio means more of the money is flowing to new awards rather than continuations — unusually open territory for investigators moving into incretin biology, response heterogeneity, or non-metabolic applications like addiction and neurodegeneration.
Yearly NIH Awards for GLP-1 and metabolic disease
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 | 170 | $92,252,502 | $542,662 |
| FY2022 | 165 | $81,666,415 | $494,948 |
| FY2023 | 187 | $85,768,174 | $458,653 |
| FY2024 | 220 | $101,568,438 | $461,675 |
| FY2025 | 283 | $161,435,053 | $570,442 |
| FY2026 | 134 | $71,997,566 | $537,295 |
Open the full interactive trends view for GLP-1 and metabolic disease →
Top NIH Institutes (last 90 days)
Which NIH institutes funded the most GLP-1 projects in the most recent 90-day window.
| Institute | Awards (90d) | Funding (90d) |
|---|---|---|
| NIH | 83 | $40,221,542 |
| VA | 2 | $0 |
Common Activity Codes (last 90 days)
Which grant mechanisms (R01, R21, U01, P30, etc.) appeared most often for GLP-1 in the recent period.
Most Active Institutions (last 90 days)
Universities and research organizations with the most GLP-1 awards in the most recent 90-day window.
- UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM — 4 awards
- YALE UNIVERSITY — 4 awards
- VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY — 4 awards
- UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH — 3 awards
- UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO — 3 awards
- UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER — 3 awards
- JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY — 3 awards
- UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR — 2 awards
Recently Awarded GLP-1 and metabolic disease Grants
Twelve most recent awards mentioning GLP-1, drawn from NIH RePORTER. Click through to Find PIs for the full investigator search.
Adipocyte-Eosinophil Communication and Its Role in Regulation of Airway Function
5R01AI184705-02Sergejs Berdnikovs · UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER, CO · $720,187 · awarded Jun 4, 2026 · R01PROJECT SUMMARY The concurrent rise in the prevalence of asthma and obesity poses a significant burden on health care system. Obesity accompanied by loss of insulin sensitivity and compensatory hyperinsulinemia drives severe inflammation and is a defining feature of poorly controlled asthma endotype. While we recognize that obesity exacerbates and promotes…
Interactions between the Gut Microbiome, Intestinal Development and Metabolic Health after Fetal Growth Restriction
5K08DK139411-02Stephanie Gilley · UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO DENVER, CO · $129,510 · awarded Jun 4, 2026 · K08PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Fetal growth restriction (FGR) impacts 10-20% of pregnancies worldwide and increases the offspring’s risk for later development of obesity and type 2 diabetes due to incompletely understood mechanisms. The focus of this proposal is the nexus of intestinal development and gut microbiome establishment. Gut microbial composition…
The Effects of Neprilysin Inhibition on Cardiometabolic Health in Black Individuals
5R01HL163852-05Pankaj Arora · UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA AT BIRMINGHAM, AL · $723,849 · awarded Jun 3, 2026 · R01PROJECT SUMMARY Black individuals have a higher prevalence of insulin resistance and are more likely to have cardiometabolic diseases, which is associated with an increased risk of mortality. The reasons for the increased insulin resistance in Blacks are incompletely understood. The natriuretic peptide hormonal system contributes to the regulation of…
Mechanisms of nicotine reinforcement
5R37DA020686-19Paul Kenny · ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI, NY · $417,916 · awarded Jun 3, 2026 · R37This application for renewal seeks to better understand the neurobiological mechanisms of nicotine addiction. A major accomplishment during the previous funding cycle was identifying the critical role played by the habenula-interpeduncular nucleus (habenula-IPn) circuit in regulating the motivational properties of nicotine. We also found that the…
Semaglutide Dose Effects on Metabolic and Stress Hormones, Craving and Alcohol Use Outcomes
1R01AA032779-01Rajita Sinha · YALE UNIVERSITY, CT · $752,580 · awarded Jun 3, 2026 · R01ABSTRACT SUMMARY Alcohol use disorder (AUD) and obesity (OB) are current health crises that co-occur frequently and greatly increase risk of related chronic medical morbidities. Chronic alcohol intake and obesity result in high glucose, poor glycemic control, along with insulin, cortisol and ACTH hormone dysregulation, and these metabolic and stress hormone…
Microbial activators of host satiety
5K08DK138274-02Yanjia Zhang · BOSTON CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL, MA · $167,400 · awarded Jun 3, 2026 · K08PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Although a cause-and-effect relationship between the microbiome and obesity—and its related metabolic diseases—has been identified for almost 20 years, there are still no obesity therapies targeting or utilizing the microbiome. This is due, in part, to a lack of mechanistic understanding. The long-term goal is to delineate the…
Identifying targets to mitigate immunotherapy-associated immune-related adverse events
1R01CA306020-01A1Taha Merghoub · WEILL MEDICAL COLL OF CORNELL UNIV, NY · $703,423 · awarded Jun 3, 2026 · R01PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Immunotherapies, mainly immune checkpoint blockade (ICB; e.g., aPD-1 and aCTLA-4), cause immune-related adverse events (irAEs) in 20-30% of cancer patients, with skin and gastrointestinal toxicities being most common. High-dose corticosteroids are typically the first line of treatment for irAEs but timing, resistance and side…
Hydrogen Sulfide and GLP-1 Combination Therapy to Treat HFpEF
5R01HL181016-02DAVID LEFER · CEDARS-SINAI MEDICAL CENTER, CA · $727,607 · awarded Jun 1, 2026 · R01Project Summary Heart failure (HF) is a leading cause of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, imposing a significant healthcare burden on 6.7 million Americans that is anticipated to increase to 8.5 million Americans by 2030. The lifetime risk of HF is 24% and 1 in 4 persons will develop HF in their lifetime. Heart failure with preserved ejection…
Diet and the neurodevelopment of impulsivity
5R01DK140275-03Emily Noble · UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA, GA · $589,977 · awarded Jun 1, 2026 · R01Project Summary Impulsivity refers to the propensity toward rapid action without forethought of the consequences and devaluing rewards that are delayed in time in favor of immediate gratification. Food impulsivity is associated with obesity and binge-eating disorder and can counter efforts to make healthy food choices. Regions of the brain that regulate…
Targeting stress axes to enhance the efficacy of weight loss therapeutics
1R01DK148119-01Eric Krause · GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY, GA · $802,008 · awarded Jun 1, 2026 · R01PROJECT SUMMARY Obesity is a major problem in the U.S. and elsewhere. While pharmacotherapies, like glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor (GLP-1R) agonists, ease the burden of obesity by promoting weight loss, they also have the side effect of disproportionately reducing muscle mass. Furthermore, beneficial effects of GLP-1R agonists do not persist and most…
Evaluating Mechanisms and Therapeutic Potential of (GLP-1R) Agonists for Glaucoma Treatment
5R01EY034115-04Qi Cui · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA, PA · $497,143 · awarded Jun 1, 2026 · R01Project Summary Glaucoma is characterized by retinal ganglion cell (RGC) death leading to vision loss. Available treatment modalities continue to rely on intraocular pressure (IOP) reduction, which is insufficient to prevent progressive neurodegeneration in a significant number of glaucoma patients. In the fight against this blinding disease, treatment…
Predictors and cardiovascular outcomes of longitudinal body weight changes in multi-ancestral Veterans
1I01BX006990-01A1Yan Sun · VETERANS HEALTH ADMINISTRATION, GA · awarded Jun 1, 2026 · I01Background and Innovation: The prevalence and disease burden of obesity continues to rise in the United States and worldwide, posing a major threat to public health and quality of life. Veterans experience a high prevalence of obesity (~40%) and severe obesity (~15%), which contributes greatly to preventable morbidity and mortality, particularly in the…
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