The UAB Department of Neurosurgery ranked nationally in 2023 as the 20th leading neurosurgical institution for National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding, according to the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research (BRIMR) report.

With $3.1 million awarded to faculty and researchers, the department rose seven spots in the comprehensive ranking from 2022.

“Receiving NIH funding reiterates our role as leaders in neurosurgical research, not only in Alabama, but across the globe,” said Harrison Walker, M.D., Department of Neurosurgery deputy vice chair for research and professor of neurosurgery and neurology.

Associate Professor Jianmei Leavenworth, M.D., Ph.D., ranked among the top 50 funded principal investigators in the neurosurgical research category, according to BRIMR data.

Leavenworth, who was awarded a $1.9 million R01 grant from the NIH in 2023, is currently working to identify new therapeutic targets, predictive markers of therapeutic outcomes and effective treatment approaches for a broad spectrum of cancers.

“Our investigators’ ongoing successes are a testament to both their creativity and commitment to advancing neurosurgical research and upholding the department’s standard of excellence,” said James Markert, M.D., MPH, James Garber Galbraith Endowed Chair of Neurosurgery and Department of Neurosurgery professor. “NIH funding provides critical support to allow us to develop deeper understandings of the diseases impacting our patients, as well as to create and test new therapies that may ultimately change our patients’ lives forever.”