By Laura Gasque
The University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Nursing, a powerhouse in research funding, once again earned a spot at the top of the National Institutes of Health funding rankings for U.S. Schools of Nursing, as published by the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research. The School ranks No. 11 overall and is the top ranked nursing school in Alabama, with more than $8.8 million in NIH research funding for fiscal year 2025 and an annual total of more than $18 million in grant funding overall.
The UAB School of Nursing ranks No. 7 in the nation among public schools of nursing and has ranked among the top 20 nursing schools for NIH funding since 2017.
“Our School has been a leader in nursing and health care research for decades, and I’m proud of our work to reach and maintain this level of NIH funding,” said Dean and Fay B. Ireland Endowed Chair Maria R. Shirey, PhD, MBA, MS, RN, NEA-BC, ANEF, FACHE, FNAP, FAAN. “We remain focused on maintaining our funding momentum across all missions, and these rankings showcase the significant impact of the leadership of our School’s faculty, staff and students.”
Professor, Interim Associate Dean for Research and Scholarship and Marie O’Koren Endowed Chair in Nursing Ellen Lavoie Smith, PhD, MSN, RN, AOCN, FAAN, said the School is showing resilience in navigating the complex funding landscape.
“We are persistent, and we have been working proactively to increase our grant submission proposals and have met and exceeded that goal this past year,” Smith said. “Collaboration across investigators has helped us to think collectively about how to strategize to submit highly competitive grants and go beyond what we’ve done before.”
Alongside UAB’s research vision and as part of one of the nation’s leading academic health science centers, the School is focused on five high-growth research areas to expand its already diversified portfolio—emerging technology and products, social determinants of health, implementation science, intersection of clinical trials and precision health, and health sciences.