School's NIH funding rises 68 percent
Nancy Martin, vice president of research at UofL, says the growth in NIH funding is helping drive leading-edge research at the university.
The University of Louisville School of Medicine posted an impressive 68 percent increase in NIH research funding last year, according to figures released by the National Institutes of Health in March.
The 2001 tally -- $24.6 million -- represents a $10 million gain over 2000 and elevates the school's national ranking for NIH funds from 87th to 79th.
This eight-point rank increase is especially significant when compared to other schools in the region, UofL officials said. The University of Kentucky increased one rank, from 58th to 57th, while the University of Tennessee remained at 63.
"The growth in NIH funding enables the medical school and university to expand research programs of faculty, collaborations with other schools and research opportunities for students," said Nancy Martin, Ph.D., the Preston Pope Joyes Endowed Chair of Biochemical Research and vice president for research at UofL.
"A subset of these grants support clinical trial opportunities for subjects willing to participate in research on leading-edge treatments."
Divisions most responsible for the NIH funding increase include the James Graham Brown Cancer Center, the departments of surgery and medicine, and several other medical school research units.
In fact, while the entire school ranked 79th this year, the surgery department ranked 30th in the nation for NIH funding. Surgery departments at the University of Kentucky and University of Tennessee ranked 40th and 48th, respectively.
A large portion of NIH funding for UofL's Department of Surgery is awarded to the school's Institute for Cellular Therapeutics.
"It has been fantastic to see the impact of the growth and increase in academic excellence at the University of Louisville in the three years since we have been members of the team," says Suzanne T. Ildstad, M.D., the Jewish Hospital Distinguished Professor of Transplantation and director of the Institute for Cellular Therapeutics.
The increase in NIH funding continues to improve the university and community by facilitating scientific advances that also can provide business opportunities, Martin said.
"This infusion of extramural funds is also important for our community because new discoveries made can be transferred out of the university into the private sector for commercialization," she said.
Over the past five years, the school's NIH ranking has climbed 17 places, from 95th in 1997. During that same period, NIH funding has risen from $7.3 million.
