Funding for the University of Alabama at Birmingham from the National Institutes of Health rose more than 20 percent in fiscal year 2014 compared to the previous year. National Institutes of Health funding to the university totaled $225 million (including contracts), up from $188 million in FY 2013, placing UAB 10th in NIH funding among public universities.
“NIH funding is more competitive than ever, and this significant increase underscores UAB’s success in continually pushing the frontiers of science and medicine and advances our strategic aim of being among the nation’s elite, research-intensive institutions of higher education,” said UAB President Ray L. Watts, M.D. “These dollars will be leveraged to make potentially game-changing strides in translational medicine and patient care, quality of life, and economic development for our community and state.”
NIH funds research at UAB’s professional schools at a substantial level. According to the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research rankings, the School of Dentistry is second among dental schools in NIH funding at $11,775,000 in 2014, and the School of Public Health is ninth with grants totaling $28,964,000.
| “Garnering research support at this level furthers our goal of becoming the preferred academic medical center of the 21st century. This vital funding helps us grow our footprint in the fields of genomics, personalized medicine and other key areas and, in turn, provide unparalleled care to patients throughout our state and region.” |
The School of Health Professions had NIH funding of $5,696,000 last year,and the School of Optometry had more than $4 million. Since 2008, overall sustained grant funding to the School of Nursing has increased by more than 160 percent, placing the school 31st in NIH funding at $1,621,000.
The School of Medicine secured more than $156.3 million in 2014. This moves the school ranking to No. 26 nationally, up from No. 31 the previous fiscal year.
“Garnering research support at this level furthers our goal of becoming the preferred academic medical center of the 21st century,” said Selwyn Vickers, M.D., senior vice president for Medicine and dean of the School of Medicine at UAB. “This vital funding helps us grow our footprint in the fields of genomics, personalized medicine and other key areas and, in turn, provide unparalleled care to patients throughout our state and region.”
Key areas of funding growth include three newly formed research institutes in genomic medicine, personalized medicine and informatics. UAB investigators are making revolutionary strides toward new treatments and therapies, including one that potentially could prevent and even reverse diabetes. UAB researchers also recently secured a $10 million, five-year grant to study ways to control viral infections.
Construction of a new Genomic Medicine and Data Sciences Building, planned as part of a larger Research and Academic Crescent, could help secure an estimated $48 million in additional NIH funding that could create upward of 580 new jobs and have an economic impact of $100 million on the Birmingham area.