The Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences has risen four spots in the annual ranking of medical school research funding received from the National Institutes of Health.
Jacobs School Climbs Four Spots in NIH Rankings
Published February 26, 2026
The Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences jumped four spots in the annual ranking of medical school research funding received from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), according to data compiled by the Blue Ridge Institute for Medical Research.
For the 2025 fiscal year, the Jacobs School received more than $49.3 million in research support from the NIH, continuing an upward trend under Allison Brashear, MD, MBA, UB’s vice president for health sciences and dean of the Jacobs School. The Jacobs School’s 2025 funding total increased by more than $7 million from the previous year and is up by $14 million since 2021.
The Jacobs School now ranks No. 46 in NIH funding among public medical schools and its No. 77 overall ranking is its highest since 2003.
“The Jacobs School’s broad health research enterprise is vital to transforming the health and well‑being of Western New Yorkers,” says Brashear. “We’re focused on building upon that strength to drive new discoveries and translate our research into meaningful improvements in health for our communities.”
In addition to the overall medical school rankings, Blue Ridge released its individual department rankings. Five Jacobs School departments ranked in the top 50 nationally based on NIH funding, including Biomedical Engineering (No. 12), Ophthalmology (No. 36), Physiology (No. 38), Emergency Medicine (No. 39) and Biochemistry (No. 45).
Several other Jacobs School departments were also ranked nationally in the following categories: Anatomy/Cell Biology (No. 51), Microbiology (No. 55), Pediatrics (No. 55), Neurology (No. 56), Pharmacology (No. 59), Surgery (No. 67), Medicine (No. 72), and Pathology (No. 77).
The Jacobs School’s Department of Medicine is among the fastest-rising departments – it has jumped six slots and increased NIH funding by more than $2.5 million in the past two years.
Notwithstanding the well-publicized turbulence at the federal level over the past year, the NIH remains the world’s largest public funder of biomedical research. Disbursements to U.S. medical schools totaled more than $19.3 billion in FY25, an increase of $104 million. However, the number of awards to medical schools fell by 7.5%, according to an analysis by Blue Ridge.
