Vanderbilt University School of Medicine (VUSM) now ranks No. 8 in the nation among U.S. medical schools in total grant support provided through the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The new ranking raises VUSM's standing two spots from last year.
Receiving $340,049,796 in total NIH grant support during calendar year 2016, VUSM finished the year with an additional $48,854,269 in funding over its 2015 total. Support from the NIH for research continues to be increasingly competitive among the nation's leading academic medical centers and remains a key indicator of an institution's overall strength in biomedical research. Last year was historic in terms of VUSM's receipt of competitively funded research support, including the largest single grant in Vanderbilt history -- a $71.6 million, five-year award to support the Data Research and Support Center for the NIH's Precision Medicine Initiative Cohort Program, now called the All of Us Research Program.
This year, four basic science research departments and six clinical departments are ranked among the nation's top 10 in NIH funding relative to similar departments at peer institutions. Biochemistry ranks 3rd; Cell and Developmental Biology, 1st; Molecular Physiology & Biophysics, 3rd; and Pharmacology, 6th. Six clinical departments ranked among the top 10, including: Internal Medicine, 3rd; Ophthalmology, 9th; Otolaryngology and Hearing & Speech Sciences, 6th; Pediatrics, 4th; Radiology & Radiologic Sciences, 8th; and Surgery, 8th.
