OBJECTIVE to identify funding demands in the light of CNPq's knowledge subareas, as well as data on researchers and research groups, their distribution in the regions and their approximation with health research priorities of the Ministry of Health and the new knowledge tree framework of the area. METHODS a descriptive study developed with data from 2009 to 2014 about researchers, funding and research areas provided by the Diretoria de Ciências Agrárias Biológicas e Saúde (Department of Agriculture, Biology and Health Sciences). RESULTS there is a concentration of researchers and research groups in the Southeast region. The research priorities in the health field most frequently addressed were: Noncommunicable Diseases, Child and Adolescent Health, Women's Health and Communicable diseases. The grants could be classified in the current framework of knowledge areas. CONCLUSIONS this analysis enabled visualizing subarea demands and relevance of changing the nomenclature of the classification of knowledge framework in order to represent the scientific production generated in the nursing area.