The Duke Department of Medicine received $133.9 million last year from the National Institutes of Health to advance medical research, ranking 5th in the country among Departments of Medicine at institutions that are awarded the taxpayer-based research dollars.
"I am honored to be part of our highly successful Department, which is consistently ranked among the nation’s leaders in NIH funding," said Scott Palmer, MD, MHS, vice chair for research in the Department of Medicine. "I want to recognize the unparalleled depth and breath of research within the Department and across all of our divisions, and I remain most proud of the dedication and determination of our faculty in pursing research that will advance their fields and ultimately improve patient care."
Duke University as a whole received $384.6 million last year and ranked 9th in the country among universities, research institutions and teaching hospitals.
Duke was the largest recipient of NIH grant funding in North Carolina for fiscal-year 2018, according to the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research, which publishes an annual analysis of NIH funding.
Eight clinical departments in the Duke University School of Medicine ranked among the top 10 for NIH research dollars:
- Surgery: 1st, receiving $30.2 million in grant awards
- Pediatrics: 2nd, receiving $39.5 million
- Neurosurgery: 4th, receiving $8.1 million
- Medicine: 5th, receiving $133.9 million
- Psychiatry: 5th, receiving $39.6 million
- Orthopedics: 6th, receiving $5.2 million
- Anesthesia: 7th, receiving $5.8 million
- Ophthalmology: 8th, receiving $9 million
Additionally, three basic science disciplines were also included among the top 10 for funding, including biostatistics at No. 2, with $18.3 million in grant funding; genetics at No. 9 with $19.8 million; and pharmacology at No. 6 with $15.7 million.
“Our faculty, staff and students work incredibly hard and have been very successful in bringing in research funding that allows them to search for answers to important questions about biological processes and health,” said Mary E. Klotman, MD, dean of Duke University School of Medicine. “At Duke, we are proud of our contributions in biomedical research and ultimately how those discoveries advance care for all patients.”
The NIH is the largest public funder of biomedical research in the world, investing more than $32 billion a year to advance research aimed at improving health.