UCSF among top universities in NIH funding

By Wallace Ravven

UCSF was the third largest recipient of National Institutes of Health research support in 2007, according to new figures released by NIH.

UCSF received about $439 million from research and training grants, fellowships and other awards. The figures do not include research contracts, which NIH will announce later this year.

The UCSF School of Dentistry, School of Nursing, and School of Pharmacy all ranked first nationally in total NIH dollars in 2007, as they have in recent years. The School of Dentistry received $18.3 million in NIH research support for 2007; the School of Nursing, $13.8 million; and the School of Pharmacy, $19.6 million.

The UCSF School of Medicine ranked third nationally, with $373.1 million in NIH research funding.

This marks the 28th year that the School of Pharmacy has ranked first. The School of Dentistry has ranked first for 16 years, and the School of Nursing has ranked first since 2004.

Both the university’s overall annual NIH funding and the School of Medicine’s NIH funding totals have ranked within the top four nationally for at least 10 years.

Gaining NIH research support has become increasingly competitive, with only about 15 percent of grant applications receiving funding.

“NIH funding has been the foundation for the proud record of research progress in the U.S.,” said J. Michael Bishop, MD, UCSF chancellor. “That progress has been threatened in recent years by the increasing difficulty of gaining funds—impacting not only the range of research, but inevitably the treatments and cures it produces. In that light, UCSF’s continuing strong NIH research support is all the more striking.”

The top five recipients of NIH research funding among all institutions for 2007 were:

1. Johns Hopkins University ($582 million)
2. University of Pennsylvania ($451.5 million)
3. UCSF ($439 million)
4. University of Washington ($427.1 million)
5. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor ($402 million)

The top five dentistry school recipients of NIH awards were:

1. UCSF ($18.3 million)
2. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor ($11.2 million)
3. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill ($10.4 million)
4. UCLA ($10.2 million)
5. New York University ($9.1 million)

Ranked in the top five medical schools were:

1. Johns Hopkins University ($434.6 million)
2. University of Pennsylvania ($380.6 million)
3. UCSF ($373.1 million)
4. Washington University ($351.6 million)
5. Duke University ($343.9 million)

The top five nursing school recipients of NIH research funding were:

1. UCSF ($13.8 million)
2. University of Washington ($9.9 million)
3. University of Illinois, Chicago ($7.1 million)
4. University of Pennsylvania ($6.9 million)
5. University of Pittsburgh ($6.2 million)

Schools of pharmacy ranked in the top five were:

1. UCSF ($19.6 million)
2. University of Illinois, Chicago ($13.5 million)
3. University of Kansas, Lawrence ($10.8 million)
4. University of Utah ($10.1 million)
5. University of Washington ($9.3 million)