UC San Francisco among leaders in NIH grants for Biomedical Research

By Bill Gordon

All four UC San Francisco health science schools ranked among the top four
comparable institutions in the country in the 1999 fiscal year competition for
federal research dollars from the National Institutes of Health (NIH),
according to the most recent data obtained from the agency.

The UCSF schools received a total of $227.5 million in research grants,
training grants, contracts and fellowships during the 1999 federal fiscal year,
$2.8 million more than during the 1998 fiscal year.

Peer review determines who receives NIH research money. At UCSF, numerous basic
and clinical research projects aimed at understanding or treating a variety of
diseases—including cancer, heart disease and AIDS—have been supported by
NIH.

The UCSF Schools of Dentistry and Pharmacy each ranked first in NIH support in
1999, the School of Nursing ranked second, and the School of Medicine ranked
fourth.

The UCSF School of Pharmacy has been the top-ranked pharmacy program in
NIH-funding for 14 consecutive years.  In 1999, the school received 41 awards
totaling $13 million. UCSF ranked ahead of pharmacy programs at University of
Utah ($9.4 million), University of Illinois at Chicago ($6.6 million),
University of Arizona ($6 million), and University of Kansas ($5 million).

The UCSF School of Dentistry remained the top-ranked dental institution in
NIH-funding for the eighth straight year with $15.1 million from 39 NIH awards.
The University of Washington ($10.7 million) placed second, and the University
of Pennsylvania ($9.4 million), University of Michigan ($7.6 million) and
University of North Carolina ($7.4 million) completed the top five.

The UCSF School of Nursing received 24 awards totaling $7.4 million, just
behind the University of Washington ($7.9 million).  The University of
Pennsylvania ($5.6 million) ranked third, followed by the University of North
Carolina ($4.2 million), and the University of Michigan ($3.8 million).

The UCSF School of Medicine received 616 awards totaling $218.2 million in
1999.  UCSF ranked fourth, behind Johns Hopkins University which received
$255.3 million, the University of Pennsylvania ($238.4 million) and Washington
University in St. Louis ($225.6 million). Yale University ($209.4 million)
placed fifth.