School of Medicine maintains research funding ranking, with multiple departments in top 25 nationally
The 2025 rankings in NIH funding reflect the school’s continued commitment to advancing scientific discovery and patient-centered research.
Nine clinical and three basic science departments in the VCU School of Medicine are among the top 50 nationwide in National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding, according to the 2025 Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research (BRIMR)’s annual rankings. The School of Medicine maintained its ranking of 60th out of 145 overall for the third consecutive year and ranked 35th among 90 public institutions.
The Department of Family Medicine and Population Health maintained its standing in the top 10, and the Department of Psychiatry remains in the top 25 in their respective disciplines. Those in the top 50 include the Departments of Cellular, Molecular and Genetic Medicine, Pharmacology and Toxicology, Neuroscience and Anatomy, Emergency Medicine, Neurology, Neurosurgery, OB-GYN, Pediatrics, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, and Surgery.
Fadi Salloum, Ph.D., senior associate dean for research, commended the dedication of the school’s investigators.
“NIH funding is a critical measure of both scientific rigor and long-term impact, and behind every grant is a researcher who has spent years asking hard questions,” Salloum said. “That perseverance not only advances our institution and the university as a whole but also delivers real value to the patients and communities we are here to serve.”
The BRIMR analyzes and ranks NIH-funded researchers and institutions based on federal data from the prior fiscal year. Known as the Blue Ridge Rankings, the annual release provides medical schools and medical research institutes with a benchmark for comparison.
The School of Medicine’s immediate Blue Ridge ranking neighbors include the Pennsylvania State University Medical Center Hershey (61st), Brown University (62nd), University of Nebraska Medical Center (63rd), Augusta University (64th) and Thomas Jefferson University (65th).
Stephen Kates, M.D., interim dean of the School of Medicine, noted that the rankings reflect the strength and consistency of the school’s research enterprise, both in the lab and in the clinic.
“Remaining among the top 60 medical schools nationally for NIH funding, and seeing multiple departments ranked in the top 25, speaks to the depth of talent across both our clinical and basic science programs,” Kates said. “Research is a core priority of our school, and it is essential to how we advance science. We will continue to grow and improve, which will enable us to deliver better care to our patients and to improve the health of the communities we serve.”
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