The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) has now experienced its second consecutive year of double-digit percentage growth in research grant and award funding, setting yet another historic best in the university’s 50-year history.
Merely one year after surpassing $500 million in research funding for the first time, UAB on Monday announced that its faculty, staff and administration already shattered the $600 million milestone.
UAB was officially awarded $602,024,372 in research funding for the 12-month period spanning October 1, 2018 to September 30, 2019, according to the university’s office of sponsored programs.
That figure represents an incredible increase of $75 million in funding year-over-year — a 14.2% jump. This comes after the institution secured $527,025,137 in research grants and awards over the same time period last year, which was then a 10% increase from 2017.
The university has now averaged 10% growth in its research funding awards in each of the past three years and a staggering 34% overall increase since 2014-15, showing that UAB is truly making its mark as a world class research institution and a major economic driver for the Birmingham metropolitan area and the entire state of Alabama.
“This impressive upward curve, particularly during the past five years, is really a reflection of the quality of our people here at UAB,” stated Christopher Brown, Ph.D., UAB’s vice president for research.
“Our faculty continue to work smarter and harder to write winning proposals. It’s also a tremendously positive reflection on our administrative staff,” he continued. “The work they do to efficiently process these proposals is such a crucial element. We continue to aim high and exceed our goals, and it is a testament to the UAB research community’s great ideas, hard work and will to succeed.”
Funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Defense and clinical trials were major areas of growth over the last year.
In a statement, UAB president Ray L. Watts commented, “This record amount in awards is the continuation of the most successful five-year epoch of research funding in UAB history.”
“Last year, we had a record $527 million in awards, and we immediately set the bar even higher,” he said. “Through strong collaboration and partnership — around campus, throughout our community and state, and with our Board — we continue setting and exceeding ambitious goals in research and all pillars of our mission. I could not be prouder of the work of our faculty, staff and students in advancing a research enterprise that is among the most competitive in the nation and around the globe.”
The UAB School of Medicine, which checked in among an elite national group of eight academic medical centers to see a five-year increase of more than $100 million in NIH research funding this past spring, specifically increased its overall grant funding from $303.75 million to almost $368 million — a leap of $64 million or 21.1%. The School of Medicine has increased its award funding by almost $110 million over the past five years.
Selwyn M. Vickers, M.D., Ph.D., dean of UAB’s School of Medicine, outlined why this is so important.
“The top schools in research are also among the top facilities in health care, and research and the funding that supports it are the structural basis of any academic research institution,” Vickers stated. “These funds also enable UAB to be a powerful economic engine for the city and the state of Alabama. When each investigator gets a grant, it is like a $1 million startup company. It means the School of Medicine has 368 startup companies — and UAB as a whole has 602 — that would never be in Alabama if it weren’t for UAB and these funding agencies. It’s a constellation of companies providing jobs at a high level and attracting new talent.”
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Sean Ross is the editor of Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on Twitter @sean_yhn
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