| Shorttitle: | Ransdell Act |
| Longtitle: | An Act to establish and operate a National Institute of Health, to create a system of fellowships in said institute, and to authorize the Government to accept donations for use in ascertaining the cause, prevention, and cure of disease affecting human beings, and for other purposes. |
| Enacted By: | 71st |
| Effective Date: | May 26, 1930 |
| Public Law Url: | http://history.nih.gov/research/downloads/PL71-251.pdf |
| Cite Public Law: | 71-251 |
| Cite Statutes At Large: | , Chapter 320 |
| Acts Repealed: | 42 USC § 17-25e, July 1, 1944 |
| Title Amended: | 42: Public Health and Social Welfare |
| Sections Created: | Chapter 1 § 23a |
| Introducedin: | Senate |
| Introducedby: | Joseph E. Ransdell (D–LA) |
| Introduceddate: | April 21, 1930 |
| Committees: | Committee on Interstate and Foreign Commerce |
| Signedpresident: | Herbert Hoover |
| Signeddate: | May 26, 1930 |
The Ransdell Act (ch. 251,, codified as amended at,,), reorganized, expanded and redesignated the Laboratory of Hygiene (created in 1887)[1] as the National Institute of Health.[2]
Congress appropriated $750,000 in the bill for construction of facilities and research fellowships.[3] The NIH grew into today's 27-unit National Institutes of Health).[4] [5] The Ransdell Act was sponsored by and named for Joseph E. Ransdell, a United States senator for the state of Louisiana.