Exhibits Overview

The DeWitt Stetten Jr. Museum of Medical Research, preserves and interprets the material culture of the scientific work of the NIH. Through onsite and online exhibits, the Stetten Museum brings these materials to life to inform the public of the breadth and significance of research performed at the NIH, the world's largest research entity dedicated to biomedical and behavioral research and training.

—About the Featured Image

Art Exhibits Gallery

  • Photograph of Santiago Ramón y Cajal sitting at his drawing table with a microscope printed large on exhibit

    Learn about the first person to describe the nervous system, including intricate neurons, in exquisite and artistic detail was Santiago Ramón y Cajal.

  • Scientific display

    Dr. Joseph Goldberger discovered the cause of pellagra, a disease that killed many poor Southerners in the early part of the 20th century.  His finding that pellagra was caused by a diet deficient in vitamin B was met by political and social resistance.

  • Windowed cabinet full of patches

    Pretty Patches

    Because employees designed these patches, they reveal how people thought about their work at the Clinical Center—sometimes as a heroic struggle and sometimes with humor.

  • Howard Bartner

    Howard Bartner, an NIH medical illustrator, devoted 40 years to portraying human anatomy in his drawings.