The Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research has announced its annual rankings in National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding among Schools of Medicine along with funding by discipline for individual departments. In the latest 2023 report, the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) ranks No.23 nationally among Departments of Physical Medicine and sees an increase in annual funding.

NIH is the largest public funder of medical research in the world. The Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research is a nonprofit organization that annually ranks U.S. institutions, investigators, medical and health sciences schools based on the NIH funding.

UAB PM&R has held the No.23 ranking among all Departments of Physical Medicine since 2022. However, UAB’s NIH funding increased from $426,042 in 2022 to $661,182 in 2023. This represents a strong 55% increase in NIH funding, marking PM&R’s highest NIH funding total in 5 years.

Vu Nguyen, M.D., MBA, who joined the Department of PM&R in 2022 as the Robert B. Kyle Endowed Professor and Chair, is excited about the department’s funding growth and potential.

“I am tremendously proud of our research team and the leadership of our Vice Chair of Research, YuYing Chen, M.D., Ph.D.,” says Nguyen. “We have a comprehensive research portfolio that includes NIH, 3 NIDILRR model system grants, DOD, PVA, foundations, and industry. We’re just getting started, and I am excited to see how far we can go!”

The rankings reflect only NIH funds awarded during a given federal fiscal year, which ends on September 30. The rankings are based on data compiled and published each year by the NIH in the NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tool (RePORT).

Overall, The UAB Heersink School of Medicine ranks No. 27 in NIH funding among Schools of Medicine nationwide.