Active Medical Staff
An individual who is privileged to provide direct, including incidental, patient care services at the NIH Clinical Center. Doctors of medicine, osteopathy, dentistry, and podiatry, qualified by education, training, experience, and evidence of clinical competence to provide patient care services at the CC, are eligible for membership on the Active Medical Staff. Individuals whose activities are confined to research and/or administrative duties not involving direct patient contact are not required to become members of the Active Medical Staff.

Adjunct Investigator
An individual serving as the principal investigator who is not an NIH employee. If the protocol has an Adjunct Principal Investigator, there must be a named NIH Principal Investigator who is an employee and who will be responsible for the conduct and conflicts analysis of the protocol. The relationship between the Adjunct PI and the NIH PI will allow for the conduct of collaborative protocols between the intramural and extramural/outside medical community.

Extramural Investigator
An investigator employed by a non-NIH institution and whose research is supported with NIH funds.

Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA)
The FTCA protects federal employees in litigation when there are allegations of negligence that occurred within the scope of their employment.

Grant Principal Investigator (PI)
The intramural or extramural co-Principal Investigators who are named on a grant.

Guest Researcher
Guest Researchers (GR) are non-NIH scientists, engineers, and students who are permitted to engage in scientific studies and investigations using NIH facilities. They may not have any patient contact, and they are not financially compensated by NIH for their activities or services.

Intramural Investigator
An investigator employed by the National Institutes of Health.

Institutes/Centers (IC)
ICs are components that make up the National Institutes of Health. There are 27 ICs and each has its own specific research agenda, often focusing on particular diseases or body systems.

Intergovernmental Personnel Act (IPA)
The Intergovernmental Personnel Act Mobility Program provides for the temporary assignment (up to 4-years with at least a 1-year break in IPA) of personnel between the Federal Government and state and local governments, colleges and universities, Indian tribal governments, federally funded research and development centers, and other eligible organizations.

NIH Clinical Center (CC)
The NIH CC, the nation's largest hospital devoted entirely to clinical research, provides a versatile clinical research environment enabling the NIH mission to improve human health. The NIH CC is located on the NIH campus in Bethesda, MD.

Protocol Principal Investigator (PI)
The Principal Investigator named on the protocol. For a protocol conducted at the NIH CC, the protocol PI is usually an intramural NIH investigator.

Special Volunteer
Special Volunteers (SV) are non-NIH individuals who provide research services, direct patient care, clerical support, technical assistance, or any other necessary services for NIH. They are not financially compensated by NIH for their activities or services.

Intramural Collaborator (or Intramural Co-Investigator)
The intramural collaborator is the NIH intramural investigator named on your grant application with whom you will be conducting research. Your intramural collaborator and his/her IC will assist you in navigating many of the administrative processes associated with conducting research with the NIH.

Senior Medical Staff
A member of the NIH Clinical Center's Active Medical Staff (see definition in glossary) who may function as an attending physician with full attending privileges.

Temporary Staff Appointment
Any of several possible designations (e.g., Special Volunteer, Guest Researcher, detailee via the Intergovernmental Personnel Act) assigned to an extramural investigator who chooses to conduct research on the NIH campus.