FoNIBIB hosts an annual campus visit to NIBIB for congressional staff to engage in medical technology (MedTech) demonstrations, intramural laboratory tours, and grantee presentations that showcase the breadth of research supported by NIBIB. See the 2023 and 2024 visits organized by AIMBE and the 2025 and 2026 visits organized by FoNIBIB.
FoNIBIB also convenes NIBIB grantees to serve as scientific experts, presenting to Members of Congress and congressional staff on the contributions of bioengineering and biomedical imaging to healthcare innovation and the essential role of NIBIB funding in advancing this work.
Some examples of past congressional briefing topics include:
- Non-Animal Models (NAMs) in Biomedical Research
- Per- and Polyfluorinated Substances (PFAS) in Medical Devices
- AI to Improve Health Care
- Using Nanotechnology to Target Disease
- Innovative Medical Technologies Using Tissue Engineering and 3D Printing
2026 NIBIB/FoNIBIB Congressional Tour
On August 21, 2026, FoNIBIB hosted a Congressional event on the NIH campus. Nearly 40 congressional staffers witnessed technology demonstrations and visited NIBIB’s Research Program BETA Center and AIM Resource. These demonstrations showcased the breadth of research supported by NIBIB. Demonstrations were given by extramural NIBIB grantees from Columbia University, Vanderbilt University, Rice University, and Washington University in St. Louis.
2026 FoNIBIB Congressional Roundtable: House BIOTech Caucus
On July 16, 2026, FoNIBIB organized a bipartisan roundtable discussion with congressional staffers from the House BIOTech Caucus. FoNIBIB hosted Dr. Bruce Tromberg (NIBIB Director) and Dr. David Rampulla (NIBIB Deputy Director), to share insights into the Institute’s role in advancing biotechnology innovation. The event provided congressional staff with the opportunity to engage directly with Drs. Tromberg and Rampulla on NIBIB’s scientific priorities, strategic investments, and initiatives that are accelerating the development, translation, and commercialization of innovative medical technologies. These activities are improving patient care while strengthening U.S. competitiveness and global leadership in biotechnology.
2025 FoNIBIB Congressional Briefing – Non-Animal Models in Biomedical Research: Current & Future Opportunities
On September 12, 2025, FoNIBIB organized a Congressional Lunch Briefing on “Non-Animal Models in Biomedical Research: Current & Future Opportunities” in collaboration with the House Longevity Science Caucus. Over forty attendees, including legislative aides to Members of Congress and government relations staff from various science stakeholder groups, attended the event. Dr. Lola Eniola-Adefeso (AIMBE President) provided opening remarks followed by a presentation by Dr. Bruce Tromberg (NIBIB Director), on the Institute’s strategic investments to support New Approach Methodologies (NAMs), opportunities for their growth, and key considerations for validating and commercializing these technologies. Drs. Wilbur Lam (Emory University and The Georgia Institute of Technology) and Jenny Munson (Fralin Biomedical Research Institute and Virginia Tech) spoke on biological and computational technological approaches to NAMs. We emphasized the crucial role of the medical and biological engineering community in leading these efforts to enable their full potential as complementary approaches and potential replacements to traditional animal models. Click here to view our educational one-pager on NAMs.
2025 NIBIB/FoNIBIB Congressional Tour
On July 18, 2025, FoNIBIB hosted a Congressional event on the NIH campus. Nearly 50 congressional staffers witnessed technology demonstrations and visited NIBIB’s Research Program BETA Center and AIM Resource. These demonstrations showcased the breadth of research supported by NIBIB. Demonstrations were given by extramural NIBIB grantees from Boston University, the University of Chicago, Carnegie Mellon University, and the University of California, Irvine.
Click here to read more about the event.
2024 NIBIB/AIMBE Congressional Tour
Fifty congressional staff visited NIH on August 7, 2024, to see technology demonstrations and visit laboratories presented by NIBIB intramural researchers and grantees. The demonstrations showcased the breadth of research supported by the institute. Demonstrations were given by NIBIB’s Intramural Research Program and included the Section on Immunoengineering, Section on Mechanobiology and the MATRICES lab, and two NIBIB grantee presentations from Duke University, Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Xander Medical. The congressional staff visited at the invitation of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE). Photographs by Chia-Chi (Charlie) Chang…. Continue reading.
2023 NIBIB/AIMBE Congressional Tour
Congressional staff visited NIBIB on June 27, 2023 to see technology demonstrations presented by NIBIB grantees. The demonstrations showcase the breadth of research supported by NIBIB. Demonstrations were given by Johns Hopkins University, Georgia Institute of Technology/Emory University, North Carolina State University/University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and NIBIB’s Intramural Research Program MATRICES lab and BETA Center. The congressional staff are visiting at the invitation of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE).
This tour was at the invitation of AIMBE. AIMBE is a non-profit, honorific society that brings together academia, industry, government, and scientific societies to advance medical and biological engineering. AIMBE’s mission is to recognize excellence, advance the public understanding, and accelerate medical and biological innovation for the benefit of society…. Continue reading.
