An areal view of the MVC campus in downtown Richmond.

March 11, 2024

19 VCU health sciences departments and schools ranked in top 50 for NIH funding for public institutions

New rankings for biomedical research reflect the university’s growth as a national leader in science and medicine.

Nineteen VCU health sciences departments and schools ranked in the top 50 for NIH funding among public institutions, according to the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research. (File photo)
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By Emily Komornik
Office of the Vice President for Research and Innovation

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.

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 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.”

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: