Medical School physicians and scientists earned more than $368.7 million in National Institutes of Health (NIH) research funding in federal fiscal year 2010, according to NIH data. In all, the school’s faculty brought in $481.8 million in research funding from all sources in U-M fiscal year 2010.
The record-setting achievement cements the Medical School’s position among the top 10 medical schools in the nation in terms of NIH grants awarded. In federal fiscal 2010, the school ranked ninth overall in NIH grants and fourth among medical schools affiliated with public universities.
These funds, which researchers must compete for against peers from around the nation, enable U-M scientists and physicians to continue to explore innovative approaches to understanding a wide array of questions germane to health and disease. The work they do with these dollars aims to improve quality of life for all Americans and serves as an economic engine for the region and an investment in our nation’s future.
“We are pleased to announce that each year our faculty and researchers attract significant funding for this important work. This achievement reflects incredible effort by thousands of faculty, staff, trainees and students,” says Medical School Dean Dr. James Woolliscroft.
Every dollar of funding brought in by U-M researchers has an economic ripple effect through local spending by the scientists, staff and students whose salaries and research activities are funded by the grants, as well as the purchase of supplies and ancillary services provided by U-M units and others who keep laboratories running.
According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, for every dollar directly spent by a medical school or teaching hospital, an additional $1.30 is “re-spent” on other businesses or individuals, resulting in a total impact of $2.30 per dollar. That means that as the $481.8 million in funds from all sources are spent over the next few years, they will have a net benefit on the economy of more than $1 billion.
In addition, U-M medical research discoveries frequently lead to patents, technology transfer agreements with industry, and new startup life sciences companies. In U-M fiscal year 2010, Medical School faculty disclosed 118 new inventions.
The total Medical School NIH award amount comes from 866 different grants. They include research grants that directly support the cost of doing laboratory and clinical studies; clinical cooperative agreements that support multi-center studies of new medical treatments; training grants that fund the graduate students and postdoctoral fellows who play key roles on research teams while pursuing their education; career development awards that help launch young scientists’ research; and core grants that support major U-M medical research centers and institutes.
This year’s funding will be used for numerous projects, including research into cancer treatments, heart disease, bone marrow transplants, diabetes, genetic variations in colorectal cancer, childhood liver disease, development of artificial lungs, depression, alcoholism, Alzheimer’s disease and many more.
NIH grants make up the vast majority of all research funds to the Medical School. But other funding sources are becoming increasingly important.
In all, Medical School research funding awards from all sources totaled $481.8 million in U-M fiscal year 2010, an increase of 10 percent from the prior year. In fiscal year 2010, funding from all federal government sources, including NIH, totaled $396.4 million. Funding from industry reached $43.3 million; non-profit organizations provided $33.2 million; state and local governments provided $1.68 million; and other sources contributed $6.6 million.
The NIH data is available at report.nih.gov/award/state/state.cfm.
