NIH Reporter MCP Server

NIH Reporter MCP Server

A Model Context Protocol (MCP) server that provides programmatic access to the NIH Reporter API for searching and retrieving information about NIH-funded research projects.

Overview

This MCP server allows AI assistants and other MCP clients to search for and retrieve detailed information about NIH-funded research grants, including:

• Project details and funding information
• Principal investigator information
• Organization details
• Project abstracts and public health relevance
• Award amounts and dates
• Study sections and review information

Features

Available Tools

1. search_projects - Search for NIH projects using multiple criteria:

   • Fiscal years
   • NIH Institutes/Centers (IC codes)
   • Activity codes (R01, P01, etc.)
   • Organization names
   • Principal investigator names
   • Project numbers
   • Award amount ranges
   • Date ranges
   • Keywords in title/abstract

2. get_project_details - Get comprehensive details about a specific project by project number or application ID

3. search_recent_awards - Find recently awarded projects within a specified number of days

4. search_by_investigator - Search for all projects by a specific principal investigator

5. get_spending_categories - Get information about NIH spending categories

Prerequisites

• Docker and Docker Compose installed
• Basic understanding of MCP (Model Context Protocol)

Quick Start

1. Build the Docker Image

docker-compose build

2. Run the Server

docker-compose up

The server will start and listen for MCP requests via stdin/stdout.

3. Alternative: Build and Run with Docker Only

# Build the image
docker build -t nih-reporter-mcp .

# Run the container
docker run -i nih-reporter-mcp

Configuration for Claude Desktop

To use this MCP server with Claude Desktop, add it to your Claude configuration file:

On macOS/Linux: ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

On Windows: %APPDATA%\Claude\claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "nih-reporter": {
      "command": "docker",
      "args": ["run", "-i", "--rm", "nih-reporter-mcp"]
    }
  }
}

After adding this configuration, restart Claude Desktop.

Usage Examples

Once connected to an MCP client (like Claude Desktop), you can use natural language to interact with the NIH Reporter API:

Example 1: Search for Recent Cancer Research

"Find recent NIH cancer research projects from the National Cancer Institute awarded in 2025"

This will use the search_projects tool with:

• agencies: ["NCI"]
• fiscal_years: [2025]

Example 2: Find Projects by Investigator

"Show me all NIH projects where John Smith is the principal investigator"

This will use the search_by_investigator tool.

Example 3: Get Project Details

"Get detailed information about project R01CA123456"

This will use the get_project_details tool.

Example 4: Search Recent Awards

"What are the newest NIH awards from the last 7 days?"

This will use the search_recent_awards tool.

Using with Azure OpenAI Responses API

You can integrate this MCP server with Azure OpenAI's Responses API using function calling. Here are snippets showing how to define the tools in different languages:

Python

from openai import AzureOpenAI
from azure.identity import DefaultAzureCredential, get_bearer_token_provider

# Configure Azure AD authentication
token_provider = get_bearer_token_provider(
    DefaultAzureCredential(),
    "https://cognitiveservices.azure.com/.default"
)

client = AzureOpenAI(
    base_url="https://YOUR-RESOURCE-NAME.openai.azure.com/openai/v1/",
    azure_ad_token_provider=token_provider,
    api_version="preview"
)

# Define NIH Reporter search tool
tools = [
    {
        "type": "function",
        "function": {
            "name": "search_projects",
            "description": "Search for NIH-funded research projects using multiple criteria including fiscal years, agencies, activity codes, and keywords",
            "parameters": {
                "type": "object",
                "properties": {
                    "fiscal_years": {
                        "type": "array",
                        "items": {"type": "integer"},
                        "description": "Fiscal years to search (e.g., [2024, 2025])"
                    },
                    "agencies": {
                        "type": "array",
                        "items": {"type": "string"},
                        "description": "NIH Institute/Center codes (e.g., ['NCI', 'NHLBI'])"
                    },
                    "activity_codes": {
                        "type": "array",
                        "items": {"type": "string"},
                        "description": "Grant activity codes (e.g., ['R01', 'K99'])"
                    },
                    "pi_names": {
                        "