UNMC’s National Institutes of Health (NIH) research funding soared nearly 112 percent in the last three years.
This number is part of a report that University of Nebraska Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs and Research Richard Hoffmann will present today to the NU Board of Regents.
Hoffman compared the growth in NIH funding between the fiscal years 2008 and 2010 and found that UNL’s funding grew from $72 million to $94 million, a 31 percent increase, and UNMC’s funding grew from $43 million to $91 million, a 112 percent increase.
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UNMC’s research strategy has been successful although NIH funding has been flat and has lost money against inflation since 2003, said Tom Rosenquist, Ph.D., UNMC’s vice chancellor for research.
“We’ve seen record growth the past two years, and that doesn’t include the stimulus money we received,” he said.
During the two years of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the NIH funded $22 million for biomedical research at UNMC. The recovery grants ended in September.
UNMC’s average annual growth rate is 7.9 percent, compared to the NIH, which is 0.8 percent.
Several facts point to UNMC’s continued success, Dr. Rosenquist said, including:
- UNMC’s continued growth of overall research funding — now at $115 million, a 15 percent increase from the year before;
- Between 2000 and 2010, the number of UNMC researchers who received NIH funding grew from 62 to 106 — a 71 percent increase;
- UNMC’s average grant award has risen from $400,000 in 2003 to $700,000 in 2011; and
- UNMC continues to excel in cancer research, while achieving high status in new areas.
“I don’t know how the NIH budget will be affected during the current round of budget cuts,” he said, “but I am sure that UNMC scientists will continue to compete successfully, and that our NIH support will continue to grow.”