Nineteen of Virginia Commonwealth University’s health sciences schools and departments rank in the top 50 for their disciplines as measured by research funding for public institutions from the National Institutes of Health.

The NIH is the world’s largest financial supporter of biomedical research, and the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research compiles annual rankings of institutions, departments and investigators based on NIH funding received.

VCU rising in the ranks of public research universities

Overall, VCU is now the 47th-ranked public research university in the country, as reported by the National Science Foundation. The university’s sponsored research funding for fiscal 2023 climbed to $464 million, with $118.9 million coming from the NIH – a 24% increase in NIH-funded research from the previous year.

For fiscal year 2023, significant NIH funding increases propelled VCU’s Department of Pathology to a double-digit jump in rankings to No. 27. Receiving similar boosts from increased funding were VCU’s School of Nursing and Department of Microbiology, both of which rose nine spots to No. 16 and No. 30, respectively.

“We are extremely proud of our faculty and team members for their dedication to advancing research in service of our patients and our communities,” said Marlon Levy, M.D., VCU’s interim senior vice president for health sciences and interim CEO of the VCU Health System. “The impact of their research and discoveries not only propels VCU forward, but their contributions continue to advance science and medicine around the world.”

“VCU’s increase in NIH funding and increase in our Blue Ridge rankings is due to our commitment to advancing basic, applied and translational research across both our campuses and, through these efforts, serving our communities and patients alike – and ultimately striving for a better tomorrow,” said P. Srirama Rao, Ph.D., VCU’s vice president for research and innovation. “This increase in our national standing builds on the milestone year of our research enterprise. I would like to express my gratitude to Deans Saavedra, Ogbonna, Giddens and Cooper, and their respective teams, for their leadership in ensuring that research and innovation is at the heart of everything we do.”

Growth in pediatric research and care at VCU

Pediatric research continues to grow in parallel with clinical teams, programs and facilities aimed at providing the best care for kids.

“We’re proud to be among the top 50 public health institutions for NIH funding and know that we will only continue to grow from here,” said Shari Barkin, M.D., chair of the Department of Pediatrics at VCU School of Medicine and physician-in-chief of CHoR.

Listing of VCU’s health sciences departments ranked for NIH funding

Here are the 19 VCU health sciences departments and schools in the top 50 for public institutions, and their rankings by discipline for fiscal 2023 NIH funding, as compiled by the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research:

• Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology (12)
• Department of Family Medicine (13)
• School of Dentistry (14)
• Department of Psychiatry (14)
• School of Pharmacy (16)
• School of Nursing (16)
• Department of Human and Molecular Genetics (17)
• Department of Emergency Medicine (26)
• Department of Surgery (26)
• Department of Pathology (27)
• Department of Microbiology and Immunology (30)
• Department of Biochemistry (32)
• Department of Pediatrics (33)
• Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology (34)
• School of Medicine (35)
• Department of Neurology (38)
• Department of Internal Medicine (40)
• Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology (41)
• Department of Physiology and Biophysics (44)

By Emily Komornik

This story was originally published in the VCU News Center.