INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana University School of Medicine researchers received over $243 million in total funding from the National Institutes of Health during federal fiscal year 2023 — a more than $54 million increase over the past five years, or 28%.
According to rankings recently released by the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research, this makes the IU School of Medicine No. 13 in NIH funding among all public medical schools in the country and No. 29 among all schools nationally — both a record best for the school.
Blue Ridge is a nonprofit organization that annually ranks U.S. medical schools by NIH grants awarded each federal fiscal year. The NIH is the largest public funder of biomedical research in the world, and the 2023 federal fiscal year was Oct. 1, 2022, to Sept. 30, 2023.
"As a national leader in NIH-funded research, our faculty and researchers are improving and saving lives in Indiana and around the world," IU President Pamela Whitten said. "This growing portfolio of NIH research is a testament to our world-class faculty at the School of Medicine and across IU. From developing new treatments for Alzheimer’s or helping patients with diabetes, IU is advancing solutions to pressing challenges, while strengthening our standing among the nation’s leading public research universities."
Twelve IU School of Medicine departments ranked in the top 25 among all U.S. medical schools for 2023 NIH funding, including five departments ranked in the top 15:
- The Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics is ranked No. 5.
- The Department of Pediatrics is ranked No. 9.
- The Department of Biostatistics and Health Data Science is ranked No. 12.
- The radiology and imaging sciences and radiation oncology departments, which are combined in Blue Ridge calculations, are together ranked No. 15.
Other IU School of Medicine departments ranked in the top 25 nationally include the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery (No. 16), the Department of Neurology (No. 18), the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery (No. 18), the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (No. 18), the Department of Dermatology (No. 24), the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology (No. 24) and the Department of Urology (No. 24).
"This highest-ever ranking is a credit to the power of our research enterprise," said Jay L. Hess, MD, PhD, MHSA, dean of the IU School of Medicine and IU's executive vice president for university clinical affairs. "The NIH is the gold standard of medical research. The increase we've seen in NIH funding year after year demonstrates the quality and importance of the work happening at the IU School of Medicine and helps move us toward our goal of being ranked in the top 10 NIH-funded public medical schools by 2030."
The IU School of Medicine was among the U.S. medical schools receiving the largest amount of funding in 2023 from the NIH's National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (No. 3), the National Institute on Aging (No. 6) and the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (No. 20).
"Indiana University School of Medicine researchers continue to tackle some of our state and nation's most-pressing health challenges, including addiction, Alzheimer's disease and diabetes," said Tatiana Foroud, PhD, the August M. Watanabe Professor of Medical Research and executive associate dean for research affairs at the IU School of Medicine. "I'm proud of the innovative research led by the faculty at IU School of Medicine. The upward trajectory of our research funding and national rankings are a recognition of the incredibly valuable work of our researchers and the impact it has on the people of Indiana and beyond."
According to data from a report by United for Medical Research, every $1 million in NIH funding awarded to Indiana researchers in 2022 created nearly 13 jobs, the income and other associated expenses from which generated $2.76 million in economic activity in the state. Based on that data, the IU School of Medicine's 2023 NIH funding is responsible for creating about 3,142 jobs and an estimated $672 million in annual economic activity in Indiana — more than half of the estimated total $1.02 billion in economic activity generated in Indiana from all NIH funding in the state.